Well the weather this weekend wasn't great but we did our best to still have fun.
We made our own puzzles! I stopped at ArtMart and while browsing, found plain white 10 piece kids puzzles that you draw/paint yourself. I bought three and we had fun using the markers to create our Picassos and then putting them together.
We managed to exhaust the playdoh with handbuilding, cookie cutters, a doh press and stencils. This time we managed to keep more on the table than the floor :) This was followed by a trek around the neighborhood by way of scooter. He's learning which was is right, left and straight, slow but sure.
We made two trips to the park, one on Saturday and one Sunday. Saturday the playground was full and as usual some parents were not watching their kids and they were crazy. Christian managed to come away unscathed this time, which was a relief to me. On the way to the car, he did body rolls down the big hill. I showed him the steepest area, he plopped down and off he went. As he turned over and over and I got glimpes of his face, I could tell he was concerned about how fast he was rolling. I started hooting and hollering, "yahoo, yay, how fun!" He stopped in a patch of tall grass, looked a little disoriented as he stood up and looked at me. I yelled, "Yahoo, how fun, that was great!" He broke into a run up the hill with a huge smile on his face, asking if he could go again :)
We had a "match game" card tournament, which ended in a tie, followed by a marathon book reading session. He's finally down for the night (at least I hope so) and I get to finish the laundry. I'm sorry to see Monday and work come so soon. One more play day, with sun, would be great :)
~Amy
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
I Wanna Hug
Christian has been very huggy lately, at unexpected times, and I LOVE it!
He'll be eating his breakfast while I'm in the bathroom trying to tame my crazy hair, and he'll come strolling in and say, "I wanna hug." I happily comply and then he's off to finish his breakfast.
Then we'll be playing; cards, puzzles, cars...and he'll just stop in the middle, turn to me and say, "I wanna hug." No matter what kind of day I've had, that always makes me happy and is the best part of the day!
I know there's going to come a day when he's too embarrassed, too cool, too old to be hugging Mom, so I'm going to get as many hugs as I can, while I can :)
~Amy
He'll be eating his breakfast while I'm in the bathroom trying to tame my crazy hair, and he'll come strolling in and say, "I wanna hug." I happily comply and then he's off to finish his breakfast.
Then we'll be playing; cards, puzzles, cars...and he'll just stop in the middle, turn to me and say, "I wanna hug." No matter what kind of day I've had, that always makes me happy and is the best part of the day!
I know there's going to come a day when he's too embarrassed, too cool, too old to be hugging Mom, so I'm going to get as many hugs as I can, while I can :)
~Amy
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Allergies...gggrrrrrr! Easter Egg Hunts
UGH!
I hate allergies! Christian and I BOTH have blocked sinuses and are miserable.
I have tried three different over the counter allergy medicines, and none of them are helping. But Christian has it worse, there aren't any medicines you can give a 3 yr old. We're going through tissues at record pace and I can't seem to drink enough water.
On the up side, we had a great Easter :) Christian had fun playing with his cousins and Aunts. He was Uncle Bob's shadow when they were in the barn and he even played with Millie, the little dog. This is HUGE because just four months or so ago, he was scared to death of the little thing, although I don't blame him because she's one of those little dogs that jumps all over you.
We went to the fire departments egg hunt in the park. They divided the kids into age groups and had areas roped off, which was good because the older kids would have mowed over the little ones. Christian's age group was 0-3 and there were about a dozen kids. The fire truck sounded off the siren to mark the start of the hunt. Christian took off like a flash and ran half way up, while the other kids starting picking up eggs right at their feet. I was thinking, 'smart kid', when the delayed reaction hit him. He turned around, saw all the kids running toward him, with their parents following close behind, and he burst into tears. He told me that the siren scared him, I felt so bad for him. Really loud sounds scare him, but the siren didn't last long and it was over in about 3 seconds. After a few hugs and redirecting him toward the eggs, he was off again snatching them up. We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to investigate our stash.
The hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's went great. Christian dashed around the yard shouting, "there's another one!" We had alot more eggs than I realized and the hunt was taking a long time. He started walking and looking for them. A bird landed close to an egg and I told him he better hurry and get it or the bird will fly away with the egg. He raced over, grabbed the egg and scolded the bird. Then he was looking for more eggs and keeping an eye on the sky looking for more birds. A few flew by (high up) and he would shout, "Oh!" and snatch up another egg. He had a blast!
Now I have a bucket FULL of candy that I cannot seem to stay away from. Every evening I tell myself that I'm going to take it to work, but I haven't managed to get it there yet. I am, at this very moment, indulging on a Reeses mini egg...yum!
~Amy
I hate allergies! Christian and I BOTH have blocked sinuses and are miserable.
I have tried three different over the counter allergy medicines, and none of them are helping. But Christian has it worse, there aren't any medicines you can give a 3 yr old. We're going through tissues at record pace and I can't seem to drink enough water.
On the up side, we had a great Easter :) Christian had fun playing with his cousins and Aunts. He was Uncle Bob's shadow when they were in the barn and he even played with Millie, the little dog. This is HUGE because just four months or so ago, he was scared to death of the little thing, although I don't blame him because she's one of those little dogs that jumps all over you.
We went to the fire departments egg hunt in the park. They divided the kids into age groups and had areas roped off, which was good because the older kids would have mowed over the little ones. Christian's age group was 0-3 and there were about a dozen kids. The fire truck sounded off the siren to mark the start of the hunt. Christian took off like a flash and ran half way up, while the other kids starting picking up eggs right at their feet. I was thinking, 'smart kid', when the delayed reaction hit him. He turned around, saw all the kids running toward him, with their parents following close behind, and he burst into tears. He told me that the siren scared him, I felt so bad for him. Really loud sounds scare him, but the siren didn't last long and it was over in about 3 seconds. After a few hugs and redirecting him toward the eggs, he was off again snatching them up. We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to investigate our stash.
The hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's went great. Christian dashed around the yard shouting, "there's another one!" We had alot more eggs than I realized and the hunt was taking a long time. He started walking and looking for them. A bird landed close to an egg and I told him he better hurry and get it or the bird will fly away with the egg. He raced over, grabbed the egg and scolded the bird. Then he was looking for more eggs and keeping an eye on the sky looking for more birds. A few flew by (high up) and he would shout, "Oh!" and snatch up another egg. He had a blast!
Now I have a bucket FULL of candy that I cannot seem to stay away from. Every evening I tell myself that I'm going to take it to work, but I haven't managed to get it there yet. I am, at this very moment, indulging on a Reeses mini egg...yum!
~Amy
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Long Time Away
It seems like a year since I last posted! I've been very busy lately and can't believe it's April already!
Christian has been busy with the doctors:
1. ear infections
2. followup on ears and evaluated delayed speech
3. low on iron again, a "not good low number", so he's back on the iron drops which don't taste good and constipate him....fun, fun. Internet search for foods high in iron and that list goes to every grocery store trip with me. I am SO lucky that he literally eats everything I give him...whew!
4. appointment with an audiologist to see if anything's there that's related to the delayed speech. Hearing is all good and they even said he has a very good vocabulary, right at his age level, which is great due to the fact that he's only heard English for 15 months now. Yay! They said I must read to him alot, which I do. I love to read and want to instill that in him if I can, which so far isn't too hard because he loves to read too and typically asks me to read "one more book Mommy."
5. Audiology report sent to speech therapist; met with speech therapist. He had to go by himself with the therapist, which is baulked at first but gave in and off he went down the hall. An hour later, the therapist said the letters and sounds he's not producing yet (s, f, th...) that he's not supposed to be able to pronounce them until the 4, 5, or 6th years, so he's on track with that. But, yes I knew a "but" was coming. He cannot manipulate his tongue like he should be able too, which is a direct result from the way they did things in the orphanage.
He isn't able to move his tongue side to side, up toward his nose or down toward his chin. Right now it does affect how he chews, which is with his front teeth and mashing the food to the roof of his mouth, but he can eat, so they are not concerned about it. However, it can affect his future speech development. So the therapist gave me things to do with him to get his tongue moving and we also got a good vocabulary report from her too. Most parents try to keep their kids from sticking their tongues out, but I am trying to get mine to do it...crazy!
So the good news is, according to regular development, he speaks like he should, not quite as clear, but not delayed enough to be concerned. But we have to work now on the tongue thing, so when it comes time for him to pronounce those tougher letters and sounds, he'll be able to. So if you happen to see us out and about and I am asking him to stick out his tongue, it's not to promote bad behavior, just future good speech :)
Otherwise he's great, active, getting more funny every day. He's still in the "why" phase, which I pawned his questions off on my parents this past weekend. Hey they raised six kids, they know how to answer those "whys" that go on and on and on :)
`Amy
Christian has been busy with the doctors:
1. ear infections
2. followup on ears and evaluated delayed speech
3. low on iron again, a "not good low number", so he's back on the iron drops which don't taste good and constipate him....fun, fun. Internet search for foods high in iron and that list goes to every grocery store trip with me. I am SO lucky that he literally eats everything I give him...whew!
4. appointment with an audiologist to see if anything's there that's related to the delayed speech. Hearing is all good and they even said he has a very good vocabulary, right at his age level, which is great due to the fact that he's only heard English for 15 months now. Yay! They said I must read to him alot, which I do. I love to read and want to instill that in him if I can, which so far isn't too hard because he loves to read too and typically asks me to read "one more book Mommy."
5. Audiology report sent to speech therapist; met with speech therapist. He had to go by himself with the therapist, which is baulked at first but gave in and off he went down the hall. An hour later, the therapist said the letters and sounds he's not producing yet (s, f, th...) that he's not supposed to be able to pronounce them until the 4, 5, or 6th years, so he's on track with that. But, yes I knew a "but" was coming. He cannot manipulate his tongue like he should be able too, which is a direct result from the way they did things in the orphanage.
He isn't able to move his tongue side to side, up toward his nose or down toward his chin. Right now it does affect how he chews, which is with his front teeth and mashing the food to the roof of his mouth, but he can eat, so they are not concerned about it. However, it can affect his future speech development. So the therapist gave me things to do with him to get his tongue moving and we also got a good vocabulary report from her too. Most parents try to keep their kids from sticking their tongues out, but I am trying to get mine to do it...crazy!
So the good news is, according to regular development, he speaks like he should, not quite as clear, but not delayed enough to be concerned. But we have to work now on the tongue thing, so when it comes time for him to pronounce those tougher letters and sounds, he'll be able to. So if you happen to see us out and about and I am asking him to stick out his tongue, it's not to promote bad behavior, just future good speech :)
Otherwise he's great, active, getting more funny every day. He's still in the "why" phase, which I pawned his questions off on my parents this past weekend. Hey they raised six kids, they know how to answer those "whys" that go on and on and on :)
`Amy
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Forward and Downward
We had a followup doctor's appointment to see how Christian's ear infections were doing. The right one was all clear, but the left one still showed some inflammation but nothing to worry about, sometimes they take a little longer to heal. His right foot turns out when he walks, hops, runs so at the last visit the doctor said maybe his legs were still weak from the lower vitamin D and iron levels he had. She suggested some gross motor skill activities to see if strengthening the legs would help that. So we just finished a soccer session, which he LOVED! The doctor did some more tests and found he has a tibual torsion which is basically his shin bone is slightly curved, a sign from an awkward position in the womb. There is nothing to do about it but it isn't severe, and she said many people with this condition in more severe cases have gone on to be very good athletes. The athletic part wasn't my concern, I was worried the turned foot was something to do with his hip which may then cause issues with his lower back, but thankfully none of that is the case....whew! And he did really well in soccer and typically was first or second when all the kids ran from one side of the field to the other.
So he had some blood drawn to see how the vitamin D levels are progressing and we should hear back mid week. His speech is still not as clear as it should be, even with the delay of being in his past environment and with English not being his first language. So we are having a fully audio test done tomorrow to see if there is anything there that is contributing to the delay. Then depending on what that test reveals, will determine what the speech therapist will do, because we have to see them after the hearing test. I hope I'm not deluding myself, but I don't think there is anything wrong with his hearing, I just think he stubborness and being as busy as he his, he just could be bothered to stop, listen and learn. At times when I try to get him to repeat something and ennunciate it more clearly, he will tell me, "don't teach me Mom." Independent three year old :)
Today we headed to the park because it was a gorgeous day! By the time we left he had two skinned elbows and a goose egg on his forehead. The sidewalk was the culprit. It slopes down toward the playground and he was running down, so excited to get there, he turned his head to see how far back I was and BAM! down he went on his elbows. He fussed a little, I picked him up, said, "bummer," gave them a kiss and down he went on a run to the playground.....tears diverted. Then on the way back to the car, up the slope, he wanted to race, and me needing to get some exercise in, deciding it would be fun. We used the sidewalk joint as our starting line, counted down from three and out of the blocks we shot. We didn't get fifteen feet when he stumbled in front of me, I stumbled, tripping him in the process and down he went and bonked his head on the sidewalk. Big screams and tears ensued as I hugged him, rubbed his back, telling him it would be ok. I was finally able to peel him away from me so I could see if it was bleeding.....it wasn't. He sobbed through his tears, "Mommy please carry me," so I hiked up this sloped sidewalk carrying a 33 pound kid. He'd stopped crying right before we got to the car and I kept looking at his eyes to make sure he was ok. We put the Elmo ice pack on his head when we got home and he was happy.
I soaked him in the bathtub with bubbles, applied the Neosporin and then we played with the matching cards. So hopefully he won't have any injuries tomorrow at school, poor little guy, he went through the ringer today.
~Amy
So he had some blood drawn to see how the vitamin D levels are progressing and we should hear back mid week. His speech is still not as clear as it should be, even with the delay of being in his past environment and with English not being his first language. So we are having a fully audio test done tomorrow to see if there is anything there that is contributing to the delay. Then depending on what that test reveals, will determine what the speech therapist will do, because we have to see them after the hearing test. I hope I'm not deluding myself, but I don't think there is anything wrong with his hearing, I just think he stubborness and being as busy as he his, he just could be bothered to stop, listen and learn. At times when I try to get him to repeat something and ennunciate it more clearly, he will tell me, "don't teach me Mom." Independent three year old :)
Today we headed to the park because it was a gorgeous day! By the time we left he had two skinned elbows and a goose egg on his forehead. The sidewalk was the culprit. It slopes down toward the playground and he was running down, so excited to get there, he turned his head to see how far back I was and BAM! down he went on his elbows. He fussed a little, I picked him up, said, "bummer," gave them a kiss and down he went on a run to the playground.....tears diverted. Then on the way back to the car, up the slope, he wanted to race, and me needing to get some exercise in, deciding it would be fun. We used the sidewalk joint as our starting line, counted down from three and out of the blocks we shot. We didn't get fifteen feet when he stumbled in front of me, I stumbled, tripping him in the process and down he went and bonked his head on the sidewalk. Big screams and tears ensued as I hugged him, rubbed his back, telling him it would be ok. I was finally able to peel him away from me so I could see if it was bleeding.....it wasn't. He sobbed through his tears, "Mommy please carry me," so I hiked up this sloped sidewalk carrying a 33 pound kid. He'd stopped crying right before we got to the car and I kept looking at his eyes to make sure he was ok. We put the Elmo ice pack on his head when we got home and he was happy.
I soaked him in the bathtub with bubbles, applied the Neosporin and then we played with the matching cards. So hopefully he won't have any injuries tomorrow at school, poor little guy, he went through the ringer today.
~Amy
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sitter Search
I've been looking for some babysitters lately and decided, upon a recommendation from a friend, to check out the SitterCity website. I received several replies and have interviewed two young ladies.
The first one was adorable, sweet, kind and seemed like she'd be a great sitter. I decided to try her out this afternoon when I went to a baby shower.
She arrived on time and played with him for the three hours I was gone. Christian has been sick but has been feeling fine the last several days and this morning was fine. However, something wasn't "fine" because he threw up. They were on the swing and he upchucked, at least he didn't get any on her! She cleaned him up, got new clothes and off they went to play again. Great, just great. I find a sitter that seems good and the first time out Christian throws up.....sigh. Only time will tell if she'll sit for us again :)
The second young lady I interviewed drove me nuts and I actually had a hard time ending the interview. She told me SO much about herself, situations, future plans, on and on and on. She didn't ask a single question about Christian. I had to cut her off multiple times to tell her what I needed from a sitter, how often, details and she would launch in about herself again. She was "nice" but, I guess the best word is, distracted. When Christian meets new people, sometimes his anxiety comes out in overstimulated play, which is what happened during this interview. He kept climbing on my lap, trying to get my attention and wanting to tickle wrestle.....being a normal 3 yr. old. The sitter proceeded to reprimand him! I was shocked, and yes, annoyed. Then as I was trying to wrap it up, again, for the umpteen time, she asked what time it was and then said her friend was having a birthday party in a few minutes. I told her we were done so I wouldn't keep her and she proceeded to get her phone and text her friend. Then she texted her boyfriend and then read his response to me. HELLO!!!! This interview is over, get the hell out of my house already. I finally stood up, opened the door, told her "thank you, I'll let you know." She stood in the door and talked more. I slowly closed the door, easing her out and told her we had to eat dinner, have fun at the party, have a good weekend, I have more sitters to interview so I'll let you know. She finally left, what a mess. Obviously she's marked off the list.
Christian has been talking about wanting to go on a train ride. So we're going to ride the Metrolink light rail tomorrow for a little bit. He's so excited! Now I have to look up the routes so I don't get us lost :)
~Amy
The first one was adorable, sweet, kind and seemed like she'd be a great sitter. I decided to try her out this afternoon when I went to a baby shower.
She arrived on time and played with him for the three hours I was gone. Christian has been sick but has been feeling fine the last several days and this morning was fine. However, something wasn't "fine" because he threw up. They were on the swing and he upchucked, at least he didn't get any on her! She cleaned him up, got new clothes and off they went to play again. Great, just great. I find a sitter that seems good and the first time out Christian throws up.....sigh. Only time will tell if she'll sit for us again :)
The second young lady I interviewed drove me nuts and I actually had a hard time ending the interview. She told me SO much about herself, situations, future plans, on and on and on. She didn't ask a single question about Christian. I had to cut her off multiple times to tell her what I needed from a sitter, how often, details and she would launch in about herself again. She was "nice" but, I guess the best word is, distracted. When Christian meets new people, sometimes his anxiety comes out in overstimulated play, which is what happened during this interview. He kept climbing on my lap, trying to get my attention and wanting to tickle wrestle.....being a normal 3 yr. old. The sitter proceeded to reprimand him! I was shocked, and yes, annoyed. Then as I was trying to wrap it up, again, for the umpteen time, she asked what time it was and then said her friend was having a birthday party in a few minutes. I told her we were done so I wouldn't keep her and she proceeded to get her phone and text her friend. Then she texted her boyfriend and then read his response to me. HELLO!!!! This interview is over, get the hell out of my house already. I finally stood up, opened the door, told her "thank you, I'll let you know." She stood in the door and talked more. I slowly closed the door, easing her out and told her we had to eat dinner, have fun at the party, have a good weekend, I have more sitters to interview so I'll let you know. She finally left, what a mess. Obviously she's marked off the list.
Christian has been talking about wanting to go on a train ride. So we're going to ride the Metrolink light rail tomorrow for a little bit. He's so excited! Now I have to look up the routes so I don't get us lost :)
~Amy
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Ears, Nose and Knees oh my!
Christian has had it rough the last week. He's had a cold for a few days, cough and stuffy/runny nose. We've been blowing his nose for what seems every 15 minutes which has caused it to be sore. So not only did he not want to blow his nose anymore because it hurt, it was draining down his throat making him cough so much he would gag.
We ended up in the ER Saturday night/Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. He has ear infections in both ears, apparently pretty bad. The only symptoms were that night when he couldn't sleep, crying in pain, saying his ears hurt. I guess he should have been in pain a few days before, but he has a pretty high pain tolerance level, so it didn't get to be too much for him until his ears were already pretty bad. So after the ER we head to CVS to get the prescriptions filled then finally home at 2:00 a.m. and we also got ointment for his sore nose. The meds kicked in fast because by Sunday noon he was his ol' self again :)
Then Sunday night and Monday night he wakes up crying saying his knees hurt....growing pains. So I rub his knees until he falls asleep and then drag myself back to bed. I don't drink coffee or tea so getting a boost of caffeine to get through the day isn't an option. I gave up soda for Lent which was my caffeine source, but I think I'm going to have to make a trade because some days I need that boost, I think God will understand :)
Hoping for an interrupted night's sleep tonight.
~Amy
We ended up in the ER Saturday night/Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. He has ear infections in both ears, apparently pretty bad. The only symptoms were that night when he couldn't sleep, crying in pain, saying his ears hurt. I guess he should have been in pain a few days before, but he has a pretty high pain tolerance level, so it didn't get to be too much for him until his ears were already pretty bad. So after the ER we head to CVS to get the prescriptions filled then finally home at 2:00 a.m. and we also got ointment for his sore nose. The meds kicked in fast because by Sunday noon he was his ol' self again :)
Then Sunday night and Monday night he wakes up crying saying his knees hurt....growing pains. So I rub his knees until he falls asleep and then drag myself back to bed. I don't drink coffee or tea so getting a boost of caffeine to get through the day isn't an option. I gave up soda for Lent which was my caffeine source, but I think I'm going to have to make a trade because some days I need that boost, I think God will understand :)
Hoping for an interrupted night's sleep tonight.
~Amy
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