Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Happy 5th Birthday!

Wow...imagine that, I actually got around to doing the obligatory birthday post today!  I'm on top of it!

In any case, today you turn FIVE years old!  I honestly can't believe it!  You've been so much fun over the past five years (and more, if you count pregnancy...you were entertaining then too!), and we can't wait to see what the next years hold.

Five years ago, yesterday, we didn't know if you were a boy or a girl, and we were sitting at home having a nice quiet evening before your induction scheduled for the next morning.  Instead of getting a good night's sleep, my water broke and we were off to the hospital.  After waiting anxiously over the night, and pushing for a couple of hours, you were born at 4:55am...about an hour before we were due to show up at the hospital for the induction.

(And...if all goes well..so far so good...your baby sister will NOT be giving us a recreation of your birth today!  I'm sure you don't really want to share anyway!)

Five years have passed and you've had many adventures and gone through many changes as you've grown up.  In those years, you've lived in two states (NV and AZ), three different houses and become a big brother almost twice over!  You've flown more times than some adults have in their entire lifetime  (10 trips!) and been to quite a few states in the process (8!).



The past year alone you've grown by leaps and bounds.  You became 100% potty trained (overnight and everything!), learned your ABC's pretty well, learned to spell your name, became more brave and determined to swim independently, figured out so many things on the computer, and taken really good care of your little brother (helping him out whenever he gets stuck!).  You also started speech therapy (which has helped so much with your confidence and being able to talk...you are so funny and smart when you share what's on your mind!).  And finally, you've gotten ready for school, and attended the school district's preschool...all ready for kindergarten next month!

With that...I hope today is the best birthday yet!!!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Let's See...Where Were We...

Sorry for the lack of updates, kiddo!  You're second on my list of blog updates today (and by the looks of it, it hasn't been since Disneyland?!).

Where to start, where to start?!  I guess a lot of things and changes have taken place, and even more will soon!  I'll try to make this as organized as possible, but you're mommy is a slacker, so hopefully it makes sense and I don't miss the big things.

In October, you were evaluated at the speech therapist and started going to speech therapy.  It seems like now that it's helped you IMMENSELY, and I think you like that it isn't so frustrating to be understood by your teachers and friends.  You went through a little bit of a rough patch towards the end of the year at school in that you liked to "hide" behind things and kind of do your own thing in your classroom.  It didn't help that once you were finally in Preschool 1 at daycare, that you were put pretty quickly into Preschool 2 (within about 6 weeks!).  Your teacher left, and you went back to Preschool 1, only to have her leave pretty soon afterwards too!  They then moved you to Preschool 3 (aka Pre-K).  Everything was a huge change for you, and I don't think you knew what to do or where you were going each day!

December came and so did Christmas.  You LOVED Christmas this year, and loved helping with the tree, loved the presents and all of that good stuff.  We went to your Grandma and Grandpa (Coon)'s house and spent Christmas Day there, which you enjoyed too.  I think you were a bit sad to see Christmas end.  December also marked something big as well...you are going to be a big brother again!  But, more on that later!

January came, and you got back into the speech therapy every week routine, and went for an evaluation (a very LONG one) at the Developmental Psychologist.  It was terribly hard for you to sit still for that long, but we got through all of the questions and tests and things.  She diagnosed you as being on the autism spectrum, which is up for interpretation...it's a big spectrum.  But, in any case, recommended that you be referred to the school district to see if going to the preschool there might be good for you.  After several meetings with the district and your new teachers, you started half days at the school where you will attend kindergarten in the fall.  You were SO excited to be able to ride the bus (the bus picks you up from daycare and drops back off again).  I think you really like the different things that are going on at that school too.  You've already gotten to see baby chicks in your class, watch caterpillars grow into butterflies, have a Mother's Day tea party, and do Build-a-Bear.  It's going to be sad when it ends...we only wish we could have gotten you to start there sooner!

Onto the laundry list of sickness and all things health related as well!  You had your last tube removed (well, it was kind of hanging there) at the ear nose and throat doctor.  We got to keep the little tube as a sort of souvineer, which was interesting (for your parents, at least...you may find it neat later!).  You were pretty healthy until right after Jared's birthday in March...when your eardrum burst!  Once that was all fixed up, things were going alright until you got a fever suddenly one weekend, and we noticed a red rash all over your body.  We took you in and it was...Scarlet Fever with the strep throat.  You had a mild ear infection to go with it (but when your ear drum burst, it was negative for MRSA this time!).  That fixed up pretty quickly, and you were on your way until food poisoning (from pizza) hit you, me and Daddy.  Throwing up all day is certainly not fun!

Well, that appears to be that!  You missed out on spring pictures at daycare (when you were out with strep!), but your school did send pictures of you holding the baby chick (hooray!).  In April, we found out that you're going to have a little sister, and earlier this week you were pretty excited to see the ultrasound of her moving around.  It's going to be a fun summer!