So I went to pick Kellen up today and the Kids Kamp counselors told me that he cracked them up (again) today. They proceed to tell me the full story, and it made me so proud.
They were playing the game 2 Truths and a Lie, and when it was Kellen's turn, he told the counselor that he wasn't going to play the game because he wasn't allowed to lie and that he got in trouble with his Mommy and Daddy for lying. They tried to use a different word for lie and explain it in a different way to convince him to play, but he stuck his ground and told them, 'No." He basically told them that if he lies he gets in trouble at home and gets a spanking.
I am just SO PROUD of him for sticking up for himself and for not doing something that he was being told by a teacher, an authority figure in his eyes, to do that went against what we had been teaching him. I can only imagine how confusing that must have been for him. We've told him to obey his teachers, yet here they were telling him to do something in direct contradiction to values we've tried to instill in him.
Now you may be reading this and thinking, 'Come on, Rebecca, it's only a game,' but I think to a 5-year old, something as simple as lying in a game setting could be potentially confusing. I think that was a tremendous lesson for Kellen and again, I'm just so proud of him!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Under attack
It's amazing when you are really and truly seeking God's will...I mean actively working to be in His will and correcting areas of your life where you've been disciplined and/or you've simply realized aren't where they need to be when you get hit - both barrels - by Satan. That's where our family is right now. I ask that you simply pray for us. I'm not going to go into details, simply understand that Satan is really coming after Matt and I in a variety of ways...at least we are both realizing what is taking place and are actively guarding against the attacks. Please pray that we both continue to realize what is happening and trust and rely on the Lord to guide us through this.
On a lighter note, Tatum decided to take her personal potty training forward in a quantum-leap manner today. We were finishing with our dinner and she says and signs "all done" to me, then says, "poo poo". Being the slow to catch on mom that I sometimes am, I repeated this back to her and asked if she needed to go poo poo on the potty, to which she replied, "uh huh". Finally taking my cue, I unbuckled her from the table and carried her into the bathroom, and proceeded to get her ready for the potty. Considering that she was fully dressed and that she's cloth diapered, this is sometimes no small feat. At any rate, she waited for me to prepare her for the potty, then sat and went. Really. And as she was in-the-process, she said, "bye bye poo poo", when she was finished, she said, "all done", then told her 'accomplishment' bye bye again as it was flushed, after she cheered herself. I have TOTAL faith that she understood what she was doing.
I still can't believe it. At 18 months old? Really?!?
On a lighter note, Tatum decided to take her personal potty training forward in a quantum-leap manner today. We were finishing with our dinner and she says and signs "all done" to me, then says, "poo poo". Being the slow to catch on mom that I sometimes am, I repeated this back to her and asked if she needed to go poo poo on the potty, to which she replied, "uh huh". Finally taking my cue, I unbuckled her from the table and carried her into the bathroom, and proceeded to get her ready for the potty. Considering that she was fully dressed and that she's cloth diapered, this is sometimes no small feat. At any rate, she waited for me to prepare her for the potty, then sat and went. Really. And as she was in-the-process, she said, "bye bye poo poo", when she was finished, she said, "all done", then told her 'accomplishment' bye bye again as it was flushed, after she cheered herself. I have TOTAL faith that she understood what she was doing.
I still can't believe it. At 18 months old? Really?!?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Already?
I can't believe it!
Tatum was in the bath, and said pee pee, so I got her out and put her on the potty. I heard water splashing, and thought she had actually gone, so I made a really big deal about it, then put her back into the bath to finish the bath.
I was getting her ready for bed, and she was running around naked for a little bit (we have yet another rash - investigtor mommy is going to have to go into gear to find out what it was that she ate that did this to her), and she went into a crouching stance. I asked her if she needed to go pee pee, and put her on the potty. She sat there for a minute, then said all done, although she didn't actually do anything. No biggie. I certainly don't want to push, and am only doing this much because she seems interested. I have been encouraging her, as she has been showing interest in the potty - you know, when I'm on it. *lol*
A minute or so later, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom, said pee pee, walked over to the potty and patted it. I asked her if she had to go potty, she said pee pee again and I put her on the potty. Seconds later, she's peeing.
Of course, I made a HUGE deal of this, but I still can't believe it. I guess I need to go get a childs potty....
Wow. She's not even 19 months old. Where did my baby go?
Tatum was in the bath, and said pee pee, so I got her out and put her on the potty. I heard water splashing, and thought she had actually gone, so I made a really big deal about it, then put her back into the bath to finish the bath.
I was getting her ready for bed, and she was running around naked for a little bit (we have yet another rash - investigtor mommy is going to have to go into gear to find out what it was that she ate that did this to her), and she went into a crouching stance. I asked her if she needed to go pee pee, and put her on the potty. She sat there for a minute, then said all done, although she didn't actually do anything. No biggie. I certainly don't want to push, and am only doing this much because she seems interested. I have been encouraging her, as she has been showing interest in the potty - you know, when I'm on it. *lol*
A minute or so later, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom, said pee pee, walked over to the potty and patted it. I asked her if she had to go potty, she said pee pee again and I put her on the potty. Seconds later, she's peeing.
Of course, I made a HUGE deal of this, but I still can't believe it. I guess I need to go get a childs potty....
Wow. She's not even 19 months old. Where did my baby go?
New adventures
...for Kellen today.
Today was the first day for Taekwondo in Kids Klub for him today. He'll be doing this once a week for the semester (instead of Little Dragons, which was three days a week). He says he didn't like it, but that seems to be a common response to things recently, so I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
The bonus for Mom and Dad on the Taekwondo - it occurs DURING Kids Klub hours. Translation: we don't have to exhaust extra effort to trying to make it to lessons in addition to our other activities. That is a DEFINITE bonus in MY book, at least!
After school was the first practice for his flag football team as well. He actually SAID that he had fun during practice for that, so I'll take that as a good sign. He has one of his former daycare friends in class with him, so he's not starting from scratch with making all new friends with the kids on his team. YAY!
All-in-all, he's had a VERY eventful day!
Today was the first day for Taekwondo in Kids Klub for him today. He'll be doing this once a week for the semester (instead of Little Dragons, which was three days a week). He says he didn't like it, but that seems to be a common response to things recently, so I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
The bonus for Mom and Dad on the Taekwondo - it occurs DURING Kids Klub hours. Translation: we don't have to exhaust extra effort to trying to make it to lessons in addition to our other activities. That is a DEFINITE bonus in MY book, at least!
After school was the first practice for his flag football team as well. He actually SAID that he had fun during practice for that, so I'll take that as a good sign. He has one of his former daycare friends in class with him, so he's not starting from scratch with making all new friends with the kids on his team. YAY!
All-in-all, he's had a VERY eventful day!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
God is good and we are blessed
Once you read the entire post, you may this the title doesn't fit, but God has shown just how good He is over the last few days. Really.
I'll try to take it one day at a time and give you the update...
On Thursday morning, I got a phone call from my mom (she FINALLY reached me via my cell phone at 6:30 AM, despite trying to call us since about 3 AM) indicating that my dad had suffered a heart attack. She said that he was being transported to Providence in Waco from the ER in Mexia and that she they had just walked in the doors, she would call me with an update. A short while later, she called to tell me he was having a catherization done at noon and that they were going to repair whatever needed repairing at that time. So I headed out of town to try to make it there before the catherization.
I spoke with him before I left, so I knew he was doing ok, or as well as could be expected, considering.
Elsewhere, my sweet husband was concerned that he was going to get called into work early because of the pending hurricane...you may have heard of it...Hurricane Ike. He was scheduled to work his regular shift on Friday, and anticipated the possibility of him having to go into work early on Thursday. However, as I was getting ready to get out of town, he was making calls to find out that he most likely wasn't having to go into work early. Whew.
So, to the hospital I go, and I'll fast foward to the catherization results. The catherization went well. He has/had a total of 3 blockages. The one that caused the heart attack was a 100% blockage at the circumflex artery. They inserted a stint there and have full function and anticipate no permanent long-term damage to the heart from the blockage and subsequent heart attack. As for the other two (located in the descending portion of the left anterior artery), the doctor decided against treatment with them at this time. What they will do is a stress test in a month to determine whether they're functionally significant. If they are, then he'll go in again to have stints placed in them.
I was able to see dad both prior to and after the catherization, which I'm thankful for. Dad's nurses' name was Michael, and he was keeping an eye out for me so that he could get me in to see Dad before he went in for the catherization if I was able to get there in time, which I luckily was. Michael, huh. Isn't God good? ;) I am VERY glad that I was there, as I was able to help my mom understand some of what the doctor was saying and showing with regard to the blockages and overall meaning. She was being so strong, but when we walked out after the doctor called us in for the catherization results, she just looked at me and said, "So does all that mean that he WILL be ok?" I'm so thankful that I was able to be there for her...
He was still in ICU on Thursday, as they simply didn't have a bed for him, and he was number 10 or 12 in line to receive a room. Mom wasn't allowed to stay with him, so we both left Thursday afternoon (and the ICU nurse was kicking us out...just doing her job, but not making us really happy though...).
I made it back to College Station in time to pick up both kids, as Matt was in a slew of emergency preparedness meetings taking place all that evening. I found out, through a variety of emails throughout the day, that TAMU and Kellen's school was closed for the pending hurricane. Hello, Ike!
Thursday night was pretty rough, Kellen was incredibly scared about the hurricane, and moreso scared about his Daddy going INTO the hurricane while everyone else was going AWAY from the hurricane. He was TERRIFIED that his Daddy was going to die. So much so that Matt and I were BOTH trying to console him throughout the night as he was having multiple nightmares and waking up screaming. And one of his nightmares ended with him falling off of the bed and busting his eye open, a fact that neither Matt nor I realized it until Friday morning. Apparently it could have stood stitches, but we didn't realize it quick enough...so there's another scar on "Crash Kellen" - Ug. His eye is so swollen...it hurts me just to look at it!
So Friday we start to prepare for Ike...Matt heads off to work, and I start picking up everything that could become a projectile - or at least as much as I can pick up while trying to watch Kellen and Tatum playing in the yard. So yeah, I didn't get everything done outside. Our evacuees from the Conroe area started to arrive mid-day on Friday, and all told we ended up with an additional 7, then 5 people and 6 animals at the house. I'm so glad that they came here and escaped from Conroe! They, of course, help get the rest of the outside ready for the storm.
I'm continuing to try and touch base with mom, and she was able to get a ride to the hospital early on Friday. Dad was moved to a private room early in the day, so she had planned to spend the night in case he was moved to a private room. She called me later in the afternoon and dad was having some problems with both his blood pressure and his heart rate. His blood pressure was dropping rapidly and his heart rate was spiking, and the doctors weren't sure why...it happened while he was sleeping, so that kinda' rules out normal "I'm stressed because I'm in the hospital" stress-type stuff, at least in my book...They gave him a bag of meds and were monitoring him closely, then changed from an IV medication to an oral medication when the IV infiltrated his arm.
Friday night comes and at the house we're all just hunckerin' down and getting ready for the storm. We haven't watched much else but the weather channel.
I wonder what their ratings were last week and this weekend?
Matt sent text messages periodically updating us on the weather in Houston, and throughout the night as well. God protected him and those around him, and continued to bless us by allowing there to be an adequate number of volunteers on Saturday so that Matt was able to come home *safely* mid-day on Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and I called to check on Dad, only to be told by Mom that she was in with the doctor. I immediately called back and suggested that she suggest they keep him another night. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my suggestion, but that's what the doctors decided to do, which made me feel much better. I would MUCH rather have my parents in a hospital in Waco when the remnants of Hurricane Ike goes up I45 than in the middle of a peach orchard directly in its path.
By Saturday, the kids are going a little stir-crazy, so we decided to take them to McDonalds for dinner and let them R-U-N on the playground. Considering that they had been cooped up in a house without being able to really get their energy out too well, they had been fairly well-behaved. The two older ones act like they're siblings. I mean REALLY act like they're siblings. Wow. I can see what I have to look forward to now. We tried to keep them busy with a variety of activites, and naps were mandatory, but there's only so much you can do.
Sunday rolls around and despite my best efforts, we just weren't making it to church. The boys decided that they were going to make a trip back to Conroe to assess the damage to the houses, so they were getting ready to head out at about the time that the kids and I should have been getting ready to go to church, so I just wasn't able to make it happen. Shortly after they left, the kids and moms headed out for a walk - off to the park! We went and fed the ducks, then played on the playground, and timed it perfectly so that we were back just in time for lunch and a nap. Yay us!
During our energy-expenditure walk, I called to find out what was going on with Dad, and was told that they made the decision to release him. So they were getting ready to head out as I was talking to them.
Sunday afternoon included naps for EVERYONE - I kinda' think we all deserved them, don't you? Then I got a call from Dad at around 3 PM Sunday afternoon letting me know that he and mom were home and resting comfortably. That was a great call to get!
Although my timing was a little off for our Sunday night church activities (a whole hour off - the wrong way...) and Kellen and I missed the first night of our new fall programs, Sunday still was a good day.
Despite the seemingly endless stream of misadventures...heart attack, busted eye, working in the hurricane, the hurricane itself, God has continually blessed us. Everything could have been so much worse, and God has shown his grace and goodness through all of this.
I'll try to take it one day at a time and give you the update...
On Thursday morning, I got a phone call from my mom (she FINALLY reached me via my cell phone at 6:30 AM, despite trying to call us since about 3 AM) indicating that my dad had suffered a heart attack. She said that he was being transported to Providence in Waco from the ER in Mexia and that she they had just walked in the doors, she would call me with an update. A short while later, she called to tell me he was having a catherization done at noon and that they were going to repair whatever needed repairing at that time. So I headed out of town to try to make it there before the catherization.
I spoke with him before I left, so I knew he was doing ok, or as well as could be expected, considering.
Elsewhere, my sweet husband was concerned that he was going to get called into work early because of the pending hurricane...you may have heard of it...Hurricane Ike. He was scheduled to work his regular shift on Friday, and anticipated the possibility of him having to go into work early on Thursday. However, as I was getting ready to get out of town, he was making calls to find out that he most likely wasn't having to go into work early. Whew.
So, to the hospital I go, and I'll fast foward to the catherization results. The catherization went well. He has/had a total of 3 blockages. The one that caused the heart attack was a 100% blockage at the circumflex artery. They inserted a stint there and have full function and anticipate no permanent long-term damage to the heart from the blockage and subsequent heart attack. As for the other two (located in the descending portion of the left anterior artery), the doctor decided against treatment with them at this time. What they will do is a stress test in a month to determine whether they're functionally significant. If they are, then he'll go in again to have stints placed in them.
I was able to see dad both prior to and after the catherization, which I'm thankful for. Dad's nurses' name was Michael, and he was keeping an eye out for me so that he could get me in to see Dad before he went in for the catherization if I was able to get there in time, which I luckily was. Michael, huh. Isn't God good? ;) I am VERY glad that I was there, as I was able to help my mom understand some of what the doctor was saying and showing with regard to the blockages and overall meaning. She was being so strong, but when we walked out after the doctor called us in for the catherization results, she just looked at me and said, "So does all that mean that he WILL be ok?" I'm so thankful that I was able to be there for her...
He was still in ICU on Thursday, as they simply didn't have a bed for him, and he was number 10 or 12 in line to receive a room. Mom wasn't allowed to stay with him, so we both left Thursday afternoon (and the ICU nurse was kicking us out...just doing her job, but not making us really happy though...).
I made it back to College Station in time to pick up both kids, as Matt was in a slew of emergency preparedness meetings taking place all that evening. I found out, through a variety of emails throughout the day, that TAMU and Kellen's school was closed for the pending hurricane. Hello, Ike!
Thursday night was pretty rough, Kellen was incredibly scared about the hurricane, and moreso scared about his Daddy going INTO the hurricane while everyone else was going AWAY from the hurricane. He was TERRIFIED that his Daddy was going to die. So much so that Matt and I were BOTH trying to console him throughout the night as he was having multiple nightmares and waking up screaming. And one of his nightmares ended with him falling off of the bed and busting his eye open, a fact that neither Matt nor I realized it until Friday morning. Apparently it could have stood stitches, but we didn't realize it quick enough...so there's another scar on "Crash Kellen" - Ug. His eye is so swollen...it hurts me just to look at it!
So Friday we start to prepare for Ike...Matt heads off to work, and I start picking up everything that could become a projectile - or at least as much as I can pick up while trying to watch Kellen and Tatum playing in the yard. So yeah, I didn't get everything done outside. Our evacuees from the Conroe area started to arrive mid-day on Friday, and all told we ended up with an additional 7, then 5 people and 6 animals at the house. I'm so glad that they came here and escaped from Conroe! They, of course, help get the rest of the outside ready for the storm.
I'm continuing to try and touch base with mom, and she was able to get a ride to the hospital early on Friday. Dad was moved to a private room early in the day, so she had planned to spend the night in case he was moved to a private room. She called me later in the afternoon and dad was having some problems with both his blood pressure and his heart rate. His blood pressure was dropping rapidly and his heart rate was spiking, and the doctors weren't sure why...it happened while he was sleeping, so that kinda' rules out normal "I'm stressed because I'm in the hospital" stress-type stuff, at least in my book...They gave him a bag of meds and were monitoring him closely, then changed from an IV medication to an oral medication when the IV infiltrated his arm.
Friday night comes and at the house we're all just hunckerin' down and getting ready for the storm. We haven't watched much else but the weather channel.
I wonder what their ratings were last week and this weekend?
Matt sent text messages periodically updating us on the weather in Houston, and throughout the night as well. God protected him and those around him, and continued to bless us by allowing there to be an adequate number of volunteers on Saturday so that Matt was able to come home *safely* mid-day on Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and I called to check on Dad, only to be told by Mom that she was in with the doctor. I immediately called back and suggested that she suggest they keep him another night. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my suggestion, but that's what the doctors decided to do, which made me feel much better. I would MUCH rather have my parents in a hospital in Waco when the remnants of Hurricane Ike goes up I45 than in the middle of a peach orchard directly in its path.
By Saturday, the kids are going a little stir-crazy, so we decided to take them to McDonalds for dinner and let them R-U-N on the playground. Considering that they had been cooped up in a house without being able to really get their energy out too well, they had been fairly well-behaved. The two older ones act like they're siblings. I mean REALLY act like they're siblings. Wow. I can see what I have to look forward to now. We tried to keep them busy with a variety of activites, and naps were mandatory, but there's only so much you can do.
Sunday rolls around and despite my best efforts, we just weren't making it to church. The boys decided that they were going to make a trip back to Conroe to assess the damage to the houses, so they were getting ready to head out at about the time that the kids and I should have been getting ready to go to church, so I just wasn't able to make it happen. Shortly after they left, the kids and moms headed out for a walk - off to the park! We went and fed the ducks, then played on the playground, and timed it perfectly so that we were back just in time for lunch and a nap. Yay us!
During our energy-expenditure walk, I called to find out what was going on with Dad, and was told that they made the decision to release him. So they were getting ready to head out as I was talking to them.
Sunday afternoon included naps for EVERYONE - I kinda' think we all deserved them, don't you? Then I got a call from Dad at around 3 PM Sunday afternoon letting me know that he and mom were home and resting comfortably. That was a great call to get!
Although my timing was a little off for our Sunday night church activities (a whole hour off - the wrong way...) and Kellen and I missed the first night of our new fall programs, Sunday still was a good day.
Despite the seemingly endless stream of misadventures...heart attack, busted eye, working in the hurricane, the hurricane itself, God has continually blessed us. Everything could have been so much worse, and God has shown his grace and goodness through all of this.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Kellen the computer whiz?
Ok, well maybe whiz is too strong, but Kellen started telling me today how he liked his "old" school better than his "new" school. So I began the questions to investigate why. Come to find out, they have a longer rotation before they're able to use the computer, and he really likes playing on the computer more often than he's able to now given the number of students in his class.
Who knew?
I guess I should have realized that because he was often at the computer center when I picked him up from daycare, but I obviously never gave it a second thought.
So, we went straight to the computer, and he immediately asked me to go to playhousedisney.com, or to pbskids.com, or to noggin.com, "Whatever choice you want to make, Mommy."
Uh huh. Can you tell which channels are on the TV at our house? And can you tell we have lots of discussions about 'choices' over here as well?
Playhouse Disney it was, and he proceeded to play several games, and he did great! These weren't just your standard video games, these are of the educational variety, so bring 'em on!
I told him as he was getting ready for bed tonight that if he has good days at school, playing on the computer can be his reward.
He was so excited! I love learning more about my kids every day! I love that I can be around them every day, and STILL learn new things about them....
Who knew?
I guess I should have realized that because he was often at the computer center when I picked him up from daycare, but I obviously never gave it a second thought.
So, we went straight to the computer, and he immediately asked me to go to playhousedisney.com, or to pbskids.com, or to noggin.com, "Whatever choice you want to make, Mommy."
Uh huh. Can you tell which channels are on the TV at our house? And can you tell we have lots of discussions about 'choices' over here as well?
Playhouse Disney it was, and he proceeded to play several games, and he did great! These weren't just your standard video games, these are of the educational variety, so bring 'em on!
I told him as he was getting ready for bed tonight that if he has good days at school, playing on the computer can be his reward.
He was so excited! I love learning more about my kids every day! I love that I can be around them every day, and STILL learn new things about them....
Monday, September 08, 2008
18 month check up
Wow. Just wow...Tatum is a trooper. Really.
Her 18 month check up was today (yeah, I know, we're a few days over...but just a few!), and she did just GREAT!
First of all, it wasn't at the best time...11:15 AM for a little girl who is used to eating at that time and taking a nap immediately after doesn't bode well for a happy and peaceful doctors visit. But, being the planner I am, I entered the doctors office armed with Ritz crackers and a sippy cup, hoping beyond hope to ward off pending meltdowns with food.
(It worked, by the way.)
The first, 'Aw' moment of the visit I had was when I pulled into the parking lot, exited the car and proceeded to get her out of the car and into the stroller when I realized that she had fallen asleep en route. *sigh* Poor baby! Not only do I have to wake you and disturb your nap, but I have to do so to to take you into the doctors office, AND to have you get shots. Ug.
So into the doctors office we go, and I start pointing out the painted animals on the wall, only to realize that she CAN make the sound and arm movements of a monkey. We've been demonstrating this to her (I call her my little monkey all the time - wierd, you might say, but she's a climber...) and she does it. How utterly delightful! It was just precious! (If you're counting, 'Aw' moment number two).
Then my little girl exhibits her total girliness by throwing a semi-fit as she's getting weighed. Now, before you question my comment above, let me explain. She had her cracker, and her water, I simply had to put both down for her to get weighed, and you DO NOT take food AWAY from this child. That's a BIG NO NO in Tatum-land. Another no-no is taking OFF her shoes. Hence the exhibition of her girliness. She wanted those shoes ON HER FEET. Period.
So as for the getting weighed part...she weighed in at a whopping 25.5 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere in the writing down of the weight we lost a half pound, so the "official" weight is 25 pounds, but I saw the number on the scale and it was 25.5. Uh huh. No wonder my back aches some days, especially when BOTH Kellen and Tatum want me to carry them. Goodness!
So, as for stats:
Weight: 25(.5) pounds = 70%
Height: 32 1/2 " = 70-75%
Head cir: 47.5 cm = 75%
We had a few issues to discuss with the doctor, including her inability to properly digest fruits (specifically acidic fruits or anything acidic). Our conclusion = she just can't. Perhaps she'll grow out of it, he's fairly optimistic about that, but for the time being, she simply doesn't get them. So we're adding a multivitamin to her daily regime (hello Flinstones!) to be sure that she gets the vitamins and nutrients she isn't getting from that food group (specifically Vit C).
And then she got her shots, and she really did quite well with those. She tried to be a big girl, and let out one big wail after the first one, took the seond like a champ (heck, she was still in the middle of the first wail, so what could she do?), and then I gave her the paci, her lovey, and snuggled with her. And that was all it took for her to put her head on my shoulder, snuggle into my neck, settle herself down, then realize she had done something good and clap for herself. Another 'Aw' moment, and now I've lost count...
Matt and I seem to continually make comparisons between Kellen and Tatum at their different stages, and he and I both thought that Kellen was more advanced than Tatum at this age verbally. After the questions they asked to gauge her verbal development at this check-up, we've realized she's JUST FINE (can she say 6-8 words? uh huh!). So, after the appointment, I decided to come up with a list, as best I could, of the words that I've identified that Tatum has and can say, as of now. Here they are (not necessarily in the order in which they appeared in her vocabulary)
Her 18 month check up was today (yeah, I know, we're a few days over...but just a few!), and she did just GREAT!
First of all, it wasn't at the best time...11:15 AM for a little girl who is used to eating at that time and taking a nap immediately after doesn't bode well for a happy and peaceful doctors visit. But, being the planner I am, I entered the doctors office armed with Ritz crackers and a sippy cup, hoping beyond hope to ward off pending meltdowns with food.
(It worked, by the way.)
The first, 'Aw' moment of the visit I had was when I pulled into the parking lot, exited the car and proceeded to get her out of the car and into the stroller when I realized that she had fallen asleep en route. *sigh* Poor baby! Not only do I have to wake you and disturb your nap, but I have to do so to to take you into the doctors office, AND to have you get shots. Ug.
So into the doctors office we go, and I start pointing out the painted animals on the wall, only to realize that she CAN make the sound and arm movements of a monkey. We've been demonstrating this to her (I call her my little monkey all the time - wierd, you might say, but she's a climber...) and she does it. How utterly delightful! It was just precious! (If you're counting, 'Aw' moment number two).
Then my little girl exhibits her total girliness by throwing a semi-fit as she's getting weighed. Now, before you question my comment above, let me explain. She had her cracker, and her water, I simply had to put both down for her to get weighed, and you DO NOT take food AWAY from this child. That's a BIG NO NO in Tatum-land. Another no-no is taking OFF her shoes. Hence the exhibition of her girliness. She wanted those shoes ON HER FEET. Period.
So as for the getting weighed part...she weighed in at a whopping 25.5 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere in the writing down of the weight we lost a half pound, so the "official" weight is 25 pounds, but I saw the number on the scale and it was 25.5. Uh huh. No wonder my back aches some days, especially when BOTH Kellen and Tatum want me to carry them. Goodness!
So, as for stats:
Weight: 25(.5) pounds = 70%
Height: 32 1/2 " = 70-75%
Head cir: 47.5 cm = 75%
We had a few issues to discuss with the doctor, including her inability to properly digest fruits (specifically acidic fruits or anything acidic). Our conclusion = she just can't. Perhaps she'll grow out of it, he's fairly optimistic about that, but for the time being, she simply doesn't get them. So we're adding a multivitamin to her daily regime (hello Flinstones!) to be sure that she gets the vitamins and nutrients she isn't getting from that food group (specifically Vit C).
And then she got her shots, and she really did quite well with those. She tried to be a big girl, and let out one big wail after the first one, took the seond like a champ (heck, she was still in the middle of the first wail, so what could she do?), and then I gave her the paci, her lovey, and snuggled with her. And that was all it took for her to put her head on my shoulder, snuggle into my neck, settle herself down, then realize she had done something good and clap for herself. Another 'Aw' moment, and now I've lost count...
Matt and I seem to continually make comparisons between Kellen and Tatum at their different stages, and he and I both thought that Kellen was more advanced than Tatum at this age verbally. After the questions they asked to gauge her verbal development at this check-up, we've realized she's JUST FINE (can she say 6-8 words? uh huh!). So, after the appointment, I decided to come up with a list, as best I could, of the words that I've identified that Tatum has and can say, as of now. Here they are (not necessarily in the order in which they appeared in her vocabulary)
- Mommy
- Daddy
- Maw Maw
- Paw Paw
- Bubby (I'm working SO HARD on getting her to say Kellen, but we said brother so much that this is what that word turned into - *sigh*)
- Please
- Outside
- Night-Night
- Dolphin
- Thank you
- Cheese
- Fish
- Eat
- Shoes
- Bath
- Bye
- Baby
- Ball
- Cracker
- No
- Mine
- Door
- Puppy
- Apple
- Banana
- Sit down
- Who's that?
- Love you
- More
I'm sure I've forgotten some, because I've just thought about this list for a short while this afternoon. And this doesn't count the number of signs that she does as well. So really, she's pretty verbal, and there's no telling how verbal she would be if we could get the paci out of her mouth more...*grin* But, we're not worried about that one, yet...with blessings from the doctor (and yes, it was a discussion item as well).
So I took her back to daycare and, you guessed it, she fell asleep in the car on the way back to school. 'Aw' I walked inside carrying her and went into her classroom where they had saved her lunch, and whispered to her about lunch...it took a minute, but she finally realized there was food ready for her and she woke up long enough to sign "eat" and walk to the table to be served, while saying, "night night" and looking at her nap stuff. 'Aw'
According to her chart, she ate "some" and then did take a little nap, so her day has been a little outta whack. But again, she's been quite the trooper!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Sunday morning sounds
(As I'm exiting the shower and getting ready for church)
Kellen: Why didn't you make MY breakfast when you made Tatum's breakfast?
(The fact hasn't quite sunken in to him that once you pour the milk onto cereal, it begins the soggification process. But whatever.)
****
Kellen: I think Tatum has a stinky!
(Which was proven true)
****
(As both children are now dressed for church, but wearing capes over their church attire)
Kellen remarks: I am a super hero and Tatum, you look like a super girl or a princess.
Now THAT'S just music to my ears!
Kellen: Why didn't you make MY breakfast when you made Tatum's breakfast?
(The fact hasn't quite sunken in to him that once you pour the milk onto cereal, it begins the soggification process. But whatever.)
****
Kellen: I think Tatum has a stinky!
(Which was proven true)
****
(As both children are now dressed for church, but wearing capes over their church attire)
Kellen remarks: I am a super hero and Tatum, you look like a super girl or a princess.
Now THAT'S just music to my ears!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Makin' Gingi
Kellen's class, in fact all of kindergarten in his school this week, is doing a theme on gingerbread men. They're reading several versions of the book, and decorated gingerbread men on Monday. Much to their dismay, the gingerbread men ESCAPED from the oven while the lunch people were making the chicken nuggets.
Oh my!
Kellen has been oh-so-enthused about this latest adventure. He told me about how he made his gingerbread man, what he looked like - down to the last blue hair, pink shirted, rainbow pants, green shoed detail. Really.
Kellen's gingerbread man and the other gingerbread men made a break for it, they all said, "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." Then the baby one said, "Catch me, catch me if you can. Catch me if you can."
(I really don't do this justice...Kellen talked about NOTHING else but this for quite a while yesterday afternoon/evening. You should hear him discussing this...it's quite entertaining!)
So Kellen decided to take his net to school today to see if he could find and catch his gingerbread man, but he wasn't able to find him. He's so worried that his gingerbread man is running amuck around the school being naughty. He's also worried that the gingerbread man is going to mess up the school and that he's going to have to stay home FOREVER. Uh huh.
Kellen's teacher (and the rest of the kindergarten teachers, I'm sure) have devised a plan to lure the gingerbread men back. They've sent home paper gingerbread men so that we can all decorate them and encourage the "real" gingerbread men to come back.
Here is Kellen decorating Gingi tonight:
Please note: Gingi doesn't have any hair because he's made to look like Daddy. However, Daddy doesn't have bags or backpacks to match his shirts like Kellen had me to make for Gingi. Yes, you read that correctly. This Gingi has a matching bag with a green handle. Very chic.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Happy Labor Day!
Whatcha' doing on this holiday?
I'm taking Kellen to school (we're in charge of snacks this week for his class, so I'll get to go into his class and drop off a couple of days worth of snacks - grapes, crackers, etc) and then Tatum and I are hanging out. I took the day off of work because her daycare was closed today...
Daycare closed.
TAMU open.
Elementary school open.
Hmmmm......
I'm taking Kellen to school (we're in charge of snacks this week for his class, so I'll get to go into his class and drop off a couple of days worth of snacks - grapes, crackers, etc) and then Tatum and I are hanging out. I took the day off of work because her daycare was closed today...
Daycare closed.
TAMU open.
Elementary school open.
Hmmmm......
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