Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Second Mommy and Me Class and Other News

Mommy and Me - Class #2

Today was our second class of Mommy and Me (basically preschool with mom in attendance) and Kian did very well! He is slowly wanting to participate more in the circle time. And I know that the Little Einstein's lunch box we found helped a lot with him actually eating his snack today. Today the kids got to wash baby dolls and draw with wet chalk on paper. They also have paint and easels up in the room and Kian helped himself to painting twice. Thankfully today I dressed him in clothes that I didn't care if they got stained...because Kian was wearing purple paint after the second go. I might need to head out to the thrift stores for some long sleeved shirts at a good price.

We also played outside for a bit - even though it was quite windy. We played with playdough and of course the train set. And Kian even participated in about half of the stuff we did in circle time. Thankfully some of songs that we did in our Terrific Two's class were the same so Kian knew what fun it was to join in.

He did get upset when he had to leave the trains to head home - luckily the lunch bag helped us in getting him out the door...he likes to help and I asked him if he wanted to carry his lunch bag. He even held it on his lap the entire way home hehe I think that bag was the best $5 spent!

FALL HAS ARRIVED - I think hehe

Well, the weather has turned pretty cool for us here in California. We haven't really had the air on at all and in fact today it's way too windy for us to have the windows open....even with them closed it is very cool inside. Cool enough for me to think that I might have to set up for the heat to kick on tonight!

We gladly welcome fall and all the wonderful things it brings :) Once we get back from Disneyland, I'm going to set my eyes on when we should go to the pumpkin patch!!!

SPEAKING OF DISNEYLAND.....
We leave in 9 days!!!!! I've already started making lists of what we need to pack and we have already started figuring out how Toby, the stroller, Kian and our luggage will all fit in the car.

Also, I was looking at the Disneyland page and noticed that it will be decorated for Halloween! How fun!! I'm really looking forward to that and I know Kian will be just in utter amazement :)

Friday, September 14, 2007

Update, a Brag and some Personal Notes

Update on Tantrums

IGNORING WORKS!!!! Jamie and I have been ignoring Kian's tantrums and seriously within just a few days we have noticed a difference! Now the big thing for me will be our next trip to Target. There are a lot of temptations there for him - things he wants to touch. The last trip ended with him having a scream fest because I wouldn't let him touch something - I guess we will see what happens!

Bragging about my Little Guy


I feel like I have only been sharing the things that are wrong with Kian lately and not all the wonderful things he knows or has done. So I wanted to take a few mins just to share about the nice stuff :)

When we were at class on Wednesday, one of the moms was in a previous class with us and told me she was floored Kian knew his ABCs and could identify the letters. She said neither of her two boys knew them and one of them is now in kindergarten! She wanted me to give her tips on how to get her kids to learn. I honestly drew a blank because I have no idea how I taught Kian really. He has had bath letters since he was about age one. I would sing the ABCs to him a lot...and honestly he couldn't sing the song until probably this summer sometime. But he could identify letters for sure - I could even ask him to find the "F" and he could point it out on a page.

Goodbye Albertson's - Hello Lucky's


I'm not sure if Albertson's grocery stores have changed all over the state to Lucky's but ours in Livermore have. With that we had to say goodbye to the only French dressing in probably the state of California that I can make Orange Dip and Taco Salad with. Jamie and I tried a country French by Ken's Steakhouse with our Taco Salad this week and we thought it tasted good...the real test will be if it will be good in orange dip. I'm going to make a trial run batch sometime this week to find out.

Also, with Lucky's comes a new word for Kian. He has trouble with the letter "l" - which I am told is very common at this age. So Lucky's sounds like "Yucky's" LOL

Halloween Decor - SCARY!!!

Halloween stuff is out in the stores now and with that comes all the scary masks and decor. This is the first year that Kian has really noticed it. Walking around he will tell me he's "scared" Jamie and I plan to take him out Trick or Treating for the first time this year...I am wondering how he will do. I plan to have replacement candy on hand for him since most of what is out there is probably processed near nuts.

This weekend we plan to shop for a costume for Kian - this will be the first year where he's been involved with picking out his costume! I'm pretty excited :)

As of today, 14 more days until we leave home for our Disneyland vacation!!!!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Terrible Two's? LOL! And Kian's first Mommy and Me Class

Man, if the two's are supposed to be so terrible, I wonder what people think of the threes? "Have Mom Committed" Threes or Tantrum Threes. I don't know. Whoever coined the term terrible two's must not have been around for the threes...that's my only guess.

In the last few weeks Kian has been in rare form. He has been throwing tantrums and they are getting worse and worse as the weeks have gone on. I'm beginning to wonder if he's been body snatched and where my well behaved boy went.

Yesterday I shopped Target with him screaming in the cart because I wouldn't let him hold a toy. That was a real joy. Today was our first day of Mommy and Me (essentially preschool but mommmy comes) and he threw at least two huge fits. Luckily one of the moms told me that everyone has been there and backed up what mine and Jamie's plan of action is in dealing with them. Ignoring. It's hard to do but the only way to combat this behavior.

Kian did two things at class - he painted a picture using cars as the "brush" he really liked that. And he played with a train set. I am guessing it will take him at least a month for the newness of the train set to wear off...the kid has trains at home so it's not really "new" but he plays with them almost all day long. I had a good time singing some new songs while sitting in circle time - trying to lead by example and asking Kian if he wanted to sing with me from time to time. I'm hoping my Kian returns soon....I miss him :(

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Speech Evaluation Update

Kian’s speech evaluation was this morning. It was at the school that Kian will attend kindergarten at so it was neat to see the place!

When we got there I had to sign some paper work (I think mainly because in California this is something that the state pays for). The speech pathologist asked in a round about way that I not stay in the room so that Kian didn't focus on the fact that I was leaving. I could hear what the teacher was asking (but I stayed out of sight). Honestly it was then that I realized just how bad Kian’s speech is :( I couldn’t understand most of what he was saying to her at one point. I think because Kian and I are always together and I can see the context of things I can take a great stab at what he’s saying.

Kian did really well with listening to what the teacher wanted him to do. After he was done she asked him to tell me he was through and he went to play while I talked to her. She said he definitely needs help. His main issue is that he’s not putting the ending on his words. Like he says “Ca” instead of “Cat” She did tell me it was something that could be easily corrected and he will be speaking in a way that everyone will understand by kindergarten.

I guess what’s going to happen is he will go to sessions once a week for a half hour and at the end of the year the speech therapist will re evaluate him. She said I will probably be able to see dramatic changes. I go in to meet with the speech pathologist the day before we leave for our Disney trip so that she can go over a report she has to write up and have me sign some paperwork. After that we will start the appointments and I will have more information.

I just very glad that Jamie brought this issue to my attention and we pursued it.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Toe Update and other Random Tidbits

Toe Update - Treatment #4

I just realized that I've been so busy that I forgot to update on my toe. Today I had my fourth treatment. She froze the warts this time...she did that last time too. Luckily this hurts just at first and gets better as the day goes on. With the other stuff she used the first two times it gets worse as the day goes on and leaves me completely immobile.

We are gearing up for our trip to Disney - we will be leaving on September 28th to spend some time with my Aunt Lori and Uncle Dave before we head to Disneyland. I let my doctor know about our trip and my concern about walking. She wanted to put that nasty stuff on my foot again this last time...I told her it scared me :( so she said she would freeze it again and told me she thinks that after one more time freezing that these warts in this area should be gone. She also said she's hopeful. That gives me hope! The area does look a lot better...and I'm glad she's ok with doing the freezing because that kind of pain on new skin would be close to unbearable for me. She told me she could give me Vicodin for the pain (yes, it's THAT bad) but I'm not sure I could function on Vicodin and take care of Kian.


Kian's Bracelet


It seems that Kian's bracelet has pretty much become a part of him. He really doesn't figit with it much anymore. It's also serving it's purpose. Kian and I went to Trader Joe's (a local grocery store) yesterday and the cashier noticed his bracelet and told me she had no idea that they made them like that. So, it's doing it's duty...letting people know of his allergy but also looking cute at the same time.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Happy Labor Day!!!

Our Extended Weekend

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

We had a good weekend spending time together. Jamie was on call and didn't have to go into work (thanks to being able to monitor emails and talk with people at work via his cell). We didn't venture too far from home though, just in case Jamie had to go into work. We did some shopping and made a trip to IKEA (we are really, really needing some new desks and some different organization in our office). It was low key but it was good to finally have Jamie around!!!

Update on Kian's Speech


Last week I got a call from the school that Kian will attend for kindergarten. The have a speech evaluation set up for September 11. I guess it's a pretty lengthly process , but the teacher said that she will do it as long as he will allow. Hearing that made me feel good. I am just hoping to have more information and tools to be able to help Kian speak better. I will post an update when I can on his appointment next week.

Medical Alert Bracelet


We got Kian's Medical Alert Bracelet that I posted about in a previous entry. Jamie had to put it on him....it's really hard to snap on him. We put it on him on Sunday morning and he's had it on ever since. He was slightly annoyed with it at first but he's really used to it now. I am going to try to take a photo of him with it on - but I am going to wait until next week sometime. We are really trying not to draw attention to it in the hopes that he really gets used to having it on.

Photos

Here are some photos from this summer. I have a lot more in my snapfish account. If you would like to be added to the list to be able to view them just leave a comment in this post and I will gladly add you :)

Kian on our back patio :)
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Kian petting an elephant at Discovery Kingdom with Daddy:
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Petting a donkey that was walking around the park:
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Daddy and Kian on a frog ride!
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Kian with Thomas the Train in the background - he really was happy in this photo we were just trying to get him to look at the camera instead of Thomas lol:
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