First Day of First Grade

Not much to report, Kyle seemed the usual combination of nervous, excited, apprehensive, hopeful that tends to arise with the first day of school. His nerves seem to be manifesting in major silliness and I have been working hard on patience. I didn’t go to the school, he was confident he could get off the bus and find his classroom and I was sure this would. He also had our neighbor Owen in his class. He was upset about some friends that ended up in different classes, but had enough friendly faces not dwell on it for too long. I have gotten few details as to the goings on in first grade, other then he had a corn dog for lunch and they get two recesses. I am excited about how the logistics have worked out this year. Mom takes everyone to her house early and I have all day to work (on my work days) until Kyle gets off the bus at 3:30. Since I don’t have to pick G and R until 5, Kyle and I have a stretch of time with no interruptions that we can work on his homework, get ready for the next day or practice reading. I think we have gotten more accomplished in these precious slivers of time then we did in the entire year last year. I hate making him keep at it after being at school all day and he frequently gets mad because he wants to play with Owen, but uninterrupted time is just to precious not to grab and hold on to.

I have not been in a deep state of despair over my sudden realization that I will have kids in elementary school for the next 13 years. I always look on the bright side of everything and have a positive attitude. Also, I don't harbor any secret annimosity towards my seemingly endless array of friends who now have all of the kids in school all day.

Catching Up

I have decided the my blogging fiscal year will coincide with the start of school and since that was TODAY, I need to make one final post to wrap up 08-09. After vacation, the big event of the summer was Kyle’s 7^th birthday. There was a great deal on Royals tickets this year, so we decided to take him and some of his buddies to the game. Whether or not that was wise depends on who and when you ask, but I do think the boys ended up having a good time, it was just a little stressful for me keeping track of everyone wanting to go to different places and it was pretty late when we got back. Some parents were already in pjs when I dropped the kiddos off. Kyle watched most of the game even though he informed us that he is now a St. Louis Cardinals fan (we watched one great Cardinals game on vacation). On the way home, the conversation in the back seat of the van seemed to center around “jokes” involving different combinations of people on an airplane and things coming out of their butts. Apparently to 7 year olds, this is the height of humor.

Our other big event was hosting a back to school party for our friends and collecting items to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. Kyle had been wanting to do something for “Ryan’s Hospital” for some time. We had originally planned on having a party mid July to celebrate Ryan being home for one year, but it never materialized, so we came up with this idea and did it during the day and invited our friends. It turned out to be great fun, the kids played on the waterslides for hours and the moms got to enjoy some time to relax. Kyle had a party at the pool directly after, so him and Grant were basically wet and playing from 1 – 7 on Friday. You would have thought they would be exhausted and to bed early, but not really. I think they both have my sleep genes (or lack of sleep genes). In addition to being water bugs, Grant has taken to proclaiming at random times “I’m a good boy”, sometimes followed by “and Kyle is a bad boy”. It’s really quite cute. Ryan continues to imitate his brothers non-stop. He loves carrying around their big plastic bats. One time, he actually dug a ball out of the garage, brought it to me and toddled a few steps away and turned around to look at me. We also witnessed him trying so hard to put a small ball on the tee while holding the aforementioned big bat. I think he would have stood there for an hours trying to get the ball on the little tee had I not intervened.

I have not been neglecting this post (along with numerous other household tasks) because I have gotten hopelessly, shamefully sucked into the Twilight series which I just learned was written for teenagers. Had I gotten sucked into these books, I would at least draw the line at reading the books and not stay up until 2 Saturday night watching not only the movie, but the deleted scenes and interview with the author.

There's no place like away from home

We have been talking for some time about a family vacation and we finally did it last week.  I got my act together and found a place on Table Rock close to Silver Dollar City.  After what is quite possibly the worst start ever, we had a really good time.  The week preceding vacation was not ideal.  Most weeks I feel very lucky to be a work at home mom with lots of flexibility; however, this was not one of those weeks.  I was busy with work, not swamped, but busy enough and it was registration week for school which meant lots of PTA stuff.  I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t breathe.  I finally broke down and asked my step mom to come up and help with the boys.  I was glad I did, but it was still a tough week.  I didn’t start packing until the morning we were due to leave and I didn’t relax until, well, it never really seemed like I relaxed, but like I said, the boys (at least the older 2) had a really good time.  We went to SDC the first day and Kyle got to experience his first “real” roller coaster.  Grant was pretty meek, which surprised me, he usually seems so daring (as evidenced by his head first descent of the water slide in the picture above).  I guess if it involves wearing a seat belt, he would just prefer to pass.  Kyle also enjoyed the magic show, something he has been into for some time now.  We didn’t stay all day, choosing to go back to the hotel for some swim time and dinner.  Tuesday was spent on the lake, renting a boat in the morning and then just hanging out in the afternoon.  Grant opted out of the boat ride, but at least it gave Ryan a chance to get his only decent nap of the trip.  I forgot how much fun it can be just hanging out by the lake, the kids spent lots of time piloting the kayaks, jumping off the docks and just floating around.  Poor Ryan is just not a big fan of the water and looked miserable most of the time, the only bright spot being a brief game of pushing Grant off the dock.  We grilled again and watched a baseball game on tv, which I think was my favorite part, just sitting together, no distractions of home, no feeling like I should be cleaning or sorting or all of the other millions of things on my at home to do list.  Wednesday we left after spending another morning at SDC and headed home, just one day before Kyle turned 7.  Will post later about that because it is indeed a story deserving of its own post.

 

I did not forget to pack my swimsuit of all things.  I did not, the week before vacation eat ¾ of a peach crisp I made.  Had I done that, I would not have said that I gave ½ of it to my step dad.

I said I wouldn't blog this...

but for some reason, I think babies in hospital gowns are just beyond cute.  Ryan had his circ last week and all went according to plan.  He was obviously not stable enough as a newborn to handle the procedure and as a 1 year old it is a little more complicated (not sure why), so we thought seriously about forgoing the whole ordeal, but in the end decided it was the right thing to do for Ryan.  The procedure was done at CMH downtown, but really in no way resembled what we went through last year.  We waited in the actual surgery waiting room, not the Ronald McDonald Family room where we waited last year.  There was a family next to us whose baby girl was having open heart surgery.  I almost said something, but I didn’t, not sure if I could be of any help since every case is so different.  I did think of them when we were home by lunch and they I am sure were still sitting in that crazy busy room.  We were able to use the family room last year because of the length of his procedure and the fact that it was just Jason and I.  Lot’s of people offered to watch the boys so Mom and Andy could be with us, but I felt strongly that Jason was the only person I could bear to spend the day with.  There is a line in my one of my favorite songs that says “it’s ok when there’s nothing left to say to me” and I think Jason is the only person who understands that about me, as much as I love my family.  Wow, did not plan on taking that trip down memory lane.  The separation was obviously harder this time as we could still hear him screaming as we got on the elevator, but time went quickly and before I knew it we were right back upstairs, watching them roll him to recovery, casually holding a bottle of juice with one hand.  He immediately stood up when he say us, and we couldn’t coax him to ride the mere 10 feet to our curtain area.  We were only there a short time before heading home.  Not long after returning home, Jason and the big boys left for a few days fishing in Bennett, leaving me to enjoy some blissful one on one time with Ryan.  We read books and played and went for wagon rides, we ate healthy foods and slept when we felt like sleeping.  I even watched a movie while he was sleeping in my arms.  I missed the older boys, but enjoyed ever second with my baby who isn’t much of a baby anymore.  It made me a little sad that I don’t take care of him like that all of the time.  It helps that he was delighted to have his brothers back home.  I would like to write about the fishing trip, but can’t get much out of any of them.  Oh well.  In other news around here, Ryan is signing and talking a little more, his latest sign is dog (panting) and it could not be more adorable.  Maybe I have already written about this, but tonight, I had him in the back yard and we looked at the neighbors yard.at their dog and then made our way to the rock pile.  When Jason came out some time later, he pointed towards the yard and made the dog sign, as if to say, hey, there’s a dog over there.  He still generalizes a little and makes the dog sign to describe, cats, bunnies, basically anything with fur.  He also signs cheese and all done  with a high degree of accuracy.  The pic of the boys is of our new tie die shirts and I just thought the pj outfits we very photo worthy.

 

This week, I have not realized that summer is almost over and the pile of worksheets Kyle’s teacher sent home to “encourage life long learning” is basically still sitting in the folder in the top drawer of his desk with only maybe two complete.  We have of course made time every day for “lifetime learning” and always done this before tv or Wii time.

The Brave One

I could probably take a 100 pictures of odd places Grant has fallen asleep. Nearly every night, he creeps out of his bedroom and into my office, sometimes with a blanket and pillow, sometimes with a small toy, but always with those big puppy dog eyes. When I look over my shoulder, he says "I'm not bothering you, Mom", which breaks my heart a little, so I let him stay and sometimes sit in my chair with me. I know the correct parenting move is to silently walk him back to his room, but I know it won't be long when just being in the same room as me won't be all he needs to make him happy. I called this post the brave one because I was thinking about how he conquered his fear of fireworks during the 4th of July celebrations this year. Last year, fireworks were met with many tears and screams, but I chalked it up to us having been at the hospital and separated for so long, so I was a little surprised this year when the snap pops triggered a mini-melt down. This in sharp contrast to Ryan whose utter indifference made me question his hearing ability. We spent the 4th at my mom's, him, Lilly, Ryan and me inside with the gang from Noggin, but the next day, at my dad's, he decided for some unbeknown reason, that he was staying outside, no matter what. He would cover his ears and sometimes let out and small scream, more annoyed sounding then scared, but he did it, even coming to terms with the dreaded super snap pops.

So why are you taking a picture...

of our butts! I think that is what I will always remember when I look at this picture. We actually took these at the end of last month, I have just been on somewhat of a hiatus from blogging. Ryan had taken a late nap and was in a good mood, so we decided to try to take 1 year pictures of him and his brothers at Lowenstein. Of course, his mood quickly went south when we got to the park with the camera, but we did manage to get a couple of good shots and enjoy some ice cream afterwards (bribing with ice cream was integral in getting the older ones to cooperate). The pictures were a precursor to the main reason behind my lack of blogging, finishing Ryan's baby book. I had a coupon for a free photobook that was about to expire, so I shifted into high gear to transform all of my random notes, thoughts and pictures into a photo book of his first year. It was alot of work, but I am soo proud of how it turned out. Hopefully he will enjoy looking at it one day. I have looked at it almost every day since I got it and I am still not tired of gazing at his sweet little face. Throughout this year, I actually imagined that I would blog a lot during this time, all of the one year agos. For instance, one year ago we were readmitted to CMH for respiratory distress. This was probably the darkest time of the entire ordeal, worse then surgery because Ryan seemed to be getting worse and not better and no one could really tell us why or seem to do anything to help. Towards the end of the week, Linda, one of the cardiology nurse practitioners suggested an NG feeding tube. I was crushed at first, I guess it seemed like he was even sicker, but it turned out to be our saving grace. It let him get the calories he needed without getting so tired and let me rest instead of constantly working to either pump milk or get him to drink it. I am still planning to go back and reread some of my posts and add some reflections before I turn this blog into a book, I am just need a little time to recover after the baby book. Appropriately enough now that I have completed his baby book, Ryan is acting less and less like a baby. He seems to be channeling a little cave man, lots of pointing and grunting with the occasional baby sign thrown in for good measure (cheese is his favorite sign, he makes it almost every time we open the fridge). He loves to play rough with the boys, his favorite pool game is pushing Kyle under the water. I guess I should say the only aspect of the pool he even remotely tolerates, as his is still not a big fan of the water. He is like a little cat, trying to climb as far up onto my shoulder as he can or burying his face in my chest. Hopefully this will change with time, Kyle and Grant could spend all day every day at the pool. Kyle started swim lessons and is doing awesome. This is the third year, but the first two were at different places and we have finally found a good fit. Grant gets so upset that he can't go to lessons with Kyle and I feel so bad. Last Thursday, I even agreed to set up the big inflatable slip and slide for him to play on after Kyle left and he did have a great time, it made it worth lugging the thing out, then waiting for it to dry and putting it back up. Some of the neighbors and out good friends that take Kyle to lessons ended up playing, so it was a nice little mid week fun surprise. It was good to have that in the bank, because the weekend turned out to be not much fun, with cleaning and errands and all the stuff that just has to get done sometimes.

Not Me's (lot's to catch up on): It was not 3:30 pm when I changed out of my pajamas Tuesday. Had that have happened, I would not have been changing at that point only because I had to take Kyle to swimming lessons. My 3 year old has not suddenly decided it is ok to pee anywhere, anytime and the same 3 year old did not a get a time out from the 16 year old lifeguard for running at the pool. That would have made me feel like a complete misfit of a mom, abgrigating my paretal resposibility to a teenager like that. I did not put the proceeds from my garage sale in the bank and then proceed to spend 2x that amount on a new computer. Had I have done that, I would not have let the fancy new computer set in my room for nearly 2 weeks before setting it up and by now I would have completly migrated everything from the old to new computer. Just like I would not have just now finished painting the puppet theatre that I commissioned my father in law to make at Christmas! Likewise the shelves I asked for would be painted and hung and being used.

Father's Day, Then and Now

To say, "what a difference a year makes" sounds very cliche, but doesn't really begin to cover it. Last year on Father's Day, Ryan was obviously still in the NICU awaiting surgery. I went to the hospital early so I would be there for rounds and during shift change walked all the way to the from lobby so that I could get reception on my cell phone to call home. Kyle and I had actually shopped for presents before Ryan was born, so it was just a matter of wrapping and locating on that morning. I can still remember hearing the excitement in Kyle's voice over the phone, such a lover of all things having to do with presents. Like any other day is was a logistical challenge of who was staying and going and taking care of the boys and driving this car or that and so on. Kyle had t-ball, so my dad and step mom drove up to take him and Grant to the game so that Jason could come to the hospital. The plan was for them to go to the game, then bring the boys to the hospital to meet Ryan for the first time. The only hitch was when they couldn't figure out how to get back into our house after the game, being country dwellers, they were not to used to having a garage door opener. The first meeting between the boys and Ryan was brief, but sweet, Grant was impressed by all of "Baby Ryan's friends" and afterwards we had a memorable Father's Day dinner in the CMH cafeteria. It was nice to be together this year, the boys and I made a garden stone with their picture and Kyle was intent on getting him a "two sided" hammer (i.e sledge hammer) from Home Depot, but begrudgingly accepted one bought from Lowe's. Kyle decorated the wrapping paper and his card with the number 6, to mark Jason's 6th year of fatherhood.

Ryan is moving quickly into toddler hood. Doesn't the look on his face just say "I am so done with that high chair, Mom". He climbed up into Grant's booster after dinner the other day and was oh so proud of himself. If I don't catch him in time to do the safety belt, he has also been known to climb straight up and onto the middle of the table to reach the ultimate prize, the salt and pepper shakers. And to think I thought I had seen it all with the first two. With everything else going on, I don't think I have posted about how much and how well he is walking. Probably for the last month he has been walking more then crawling and at this point, he seldom crawls. I have taken about a million video clips because it is just to cute for words, to see him walk from place to place and room to room.

In other news, Kyle caught and "air ball" (also known as a fly ball) at his game on Saturday and also hit two triples. He has two games this week and his last is next Saturday. I will really miss it, I love watching him play.