Spring Tea

I had no idea what today was going to be about. Some sort of celebration at school called "Spring Tea". The children had been practicing for about a month for it and we even went out and got Ryan a special outfit and made cookies. It was AMAZING! When Jimmie and I got there, two of the older boys were handing out programs and were sitting the families. Each family had their own table with name tags and flowers. They were set up beautifully. Once all the families were seated, Pat thanked those families who were graduating and gave a little speech. Then the children entered, two by two, holding hands. They went and joined Pat in the circle on the floor. Once all the children were in, they began singing songs. They sang 6 songs and even had a small dance they did. Yep, not a dry eye watching. I was so proud of Ryan. He wasn't intimated by all the people at all. He wasn't feeling well (he has bronchitis) so he wasn't real bubbly buy that is ok. He looked a little nervous but gave me a smile each time our eyes met. When the songs were done, the children went to the table one by one and carried tea cups to each parent and then one for themselves. They each then got a plate of cookies and joined their families sitting down. Each family had their own little tea time. It was absolutely wonderful. It was so much fun. Once we were done, he was ready to go home. He was as pale as a ghost and you could tell he was done. I am so very proud of my little man. What a wonderful treat we had today.

We are still up in the air about Karate. We were going to visit a new school this coming Wednesday. However, with him not feeling well, I think we will push it back a week. He asks about Karate every single day and even told us he is not sick of it. We are working on the options. I just hope we figure it out sooner than later.

I'm sorry they ran out of trophies

Saturday was another Karate Tournament. We picked up Ryan from school on Friday and headed out of town. We stayed down in Chelmsford Mass. The hotel wasn't the greatest but we did get a little swimming in. Saturday morning we headed straight to Lowell for the tournament. It sure does make for a long day. Memere Boots and Auntie Shelley make the trip. It was wonderful to have them there. Ryan was so excited. He did great. He was focused and nice and loud. He won a beautiful new red trophy. He did opening ceremonies without me or Jimmie. He held onto his friend Amelia's hand and didn't even think twice about it. That is a huge accomplishment. He spent most of the day with all his friends, playing and running around. He was so comfortable there. It is so great to see him come out of his shell. It was a long day waiting for Jimmie's turn. I don't think he competed until 3:30. It didn't go as well as Jimmie hoped. Let's just say that on the way home, Ryan told Jimmie "I'm sorry dad that they ran out of trophies".

We had to tell Ryan about his Karate school closing on Sunday. I don't think he understands. We explained to him that they may re-open someplace else or that we may go to a new Karate studio with new instructors. He said that was good. Then he wanted to know who was going to play cars with him.

Out first Playdates!

Yesterday, a little boy named Graham and his mom spent a few hours at our home with Ryan and Pepere. Graham had a very hard time when he first started preschool and would cry and cry for his mom. Somehow, Miss Arlene thought Ryan would be a good fit with him and buddied them up. What a wonderful team they have made. Graham now loves preschool and they have become quite the good little buddies. Pepere had been trying to get them over for awhile now and they finally caved :). They had a GREAT time. Graham said he wants to come over everyday! Ryan was such a good little host. Pepere loved the adult conversation and made a nice new friend too. Mac tried to play with the boys but Graham is very quite and shy and I think her personality was a bit much for him at the time so she had to sit this one out. As soon as he left thought, Ryan ran next door and told her they were going to play outside. Ryan was running across the driveway and tripped over his new rain boots and took a digger. Good thing he had his helmet on. The only damage is a nice patch of road rash on his arm.

Today one of Ryan's other friends from school came over, Evan. His mom is wonderful and Pepere once again had a wonderful time. They played outside most of the time and really enjoyed themselves. Mac spent the afternoon with the boys and they were like 3 little angels. I am so glad that Pepere is willing to entertain all these woman. I am glad Ryan and Mac are getting a chance to play with lots of friends. I'm a little jealous I am stuck at work while everyone is having a great time though.

This age is just so much fun!!!!!

Just a brag

Everyday, I am so amazed at what we are doing/learning. I attribute a lot of what he has accomplished these past few months to the most wonderful school. I LOVE his school and his teachers and his friends and just everything about it. He is writing letters so well. He is writing out many 3 letter words on his own and can sound out almost any word up to 5/6 letters. I really don't feel like it will be long before he can take a simple book and read it all on his own. He is counting to 100 (so I'm told LOL) and is starting to write his numbers. He loves all of his friends so much and talks about them all the time. He is still in gymnastics and loves the people there. He looks forward to Karate every single day. He loves to sing and dance but he would be lost without his Thomas trains and cars. I can't believe how much he plays with that stuff. every. single. day. He loves playing outside and is already starting to ride his bike again. Him and Mac seem to grow closer and closer each day with her living at moms. This seems to be both a blessing and a hindrance. They definitely act like brother and sister. Mac has changed so much just in the past couple of months with her mom moved out. It's nice to see her smile! Our lives will definitely be a little emptier when she isn't there so much. Maybe we will just keep her!

Thank you God for the greatest family in the world. I can't imagine my like without Ryan and Jimmie in it. Thank you!!!!!

So proud... yet so sad

February 7th, 2009 was Ryan's 1st Karate Tournament. He did GREAT. He wasn't shy at all and did everything asked of him. He was just so cute. His friend Evan was in the same ring as he was so it made it a little more special. He got a huge trophy for participating. He carried it around all day. Even into the bathroom :). Jimmie did great also for his 1st time. Jimmie took 1st in forms and 3rd in One Steps, so 2 trophies for him It was a really great day. Just long. Ryan competed at 9:30 and Jimmie didn't compete until 2:30. At noon, Ryan told Jimmie that we could jsut go home because Jimmie wasn't really ready to compete and wouldn't do well. Great support system. We stayed the night before and got to do a lot of swimming. It was Ryan's first time to actually swim on his own. He had a swim suit float thing on and just went to town. He definately has developed so much more confidence in himself. It is so amazing to see. I am more and more proud of him everyday. I am so glad he is enjoying Karate because it is such a good thing for him.

Okay, now the sad part. I video taped the whole thing. I was so excited to go home an watch it. Mom and Dad came over and we loaded it onto the TV. Yep, you guessed it, nothing! When I thought I was recording, I wasn't and when I thought I wasn't, I was. I am beyond mad at myself for this. It was his only 1st competition. They have another competition in April. I will try to do better next time :(.

An Accountant or An Engineer

When mom pick up Ryan from preschool today, Miss Pat told Mom that her and Miss Arlene were torn... they didn't know if he was going to be an accountant or an engineer when he grows up :).

I'm loving this mom thing!

Christmas was wonderful! We changed our approach this year and spent it at home. Just us. It was everything we had hoped for. Ryan was so excited about Christmas and was so happy to see that Santa remembered that he wanted more train tracks. Even though we stayed home, it took almost a week to recover from all the excitement. I'm sure a double ear infection didn't help much either.

I took some time off before the holidays and we spent it outside on his sled. Once he got the hang of it, he loved it. We need to take him to a big hill and let him fly!

He started back at school this week. It will be his first week at 5 days. Well, it's supposed to be but it looks like another kicker storm headed our way so possibly no school tomorrow. I hope it's not like the one in December where we were out of power for 59 hours. It may not sound like much, but no heat and more importantly, no water, 2 3 year olds and 6 adults all hovered in one room. Not fun! We survived but I'm sure we all lost a couple years off our lives.

We had a rough couple of weeks sleep wise. I'm sure all the holiday fun plus being sick didn't help, but I am so glad to be back to our crazy schedule. Hopefully it will help with the new little attitude that seems to have erupted.

Yellow Yellow Everywhere

Last night was Belt Ceremony at Karate. My amazing little man was awarded his Yellow belt. He puts his whole heart and soul into it everytime he goes. I am so very proud of him!

This was Jimmie's 1st belt ceremony as a student. He has been working so very hard to earn his orange belt. I'm thinking he worked a little too hard because for the 1st time since the school was open, they have a student who skipped a belt. Yep, Jimmie was awarded his Yellow belt also last night. He skipped right over his Orange belt. I'm not sure who was more shocked, Jimmie or Ryan. It's a nice, healthy little competition they have going on.

I am so very proud of my 2 men. I am so glad they have found something they both enjoy so much that they can do together.

Way to go guys!!!!!

Tis the season... decisions, decisions, decisions

We are 3 very busy people. I'm tired. Jimmie is tired. Ryan is tired. I think we all need a 3 day long nap. We went to our town's tree lighting ceremony last weekend and had a great time. We actually met up with a little girl he goes to preschool with and he wouldn't leave her side. It was so cute. They sang and danced together the whole time. We had a couple of nice sleigh rides and got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Who would've thought a kid would need more trains?!?! No interest to actually sit on his lap though. Oh well. We may try again this year or wait another year. He is a big scary man you know.

On Monday night, Ryan tested for his Yellow belt in Karate. There were a ton of people there and he had just woken up from a nap. He was a little freaked out but finally came around. He did very well. The belt ceremony is next week and he will be so excited. He has been working so hard. He gives 110% every time he is in class.

Last week we had parent teacher conferences at his school. They gave us a paper that says he is doing great. I asked if there was anything that we should be working on or any trouble he is giving them. He is a perfect little boy when he is there and they just love him. They said he is remarkable with his numbers. It just was so nice to hear all the good stuff. We did talk about switching him to 5 days instead of 3. They felt it would be a great idea. We just got the new tuition info for if we switched so now I just need to sell my soul to be able to afford it. First we need to decide if we really think it's a good idea to switch and then decide if we can stretch the rubber band called our finances. Right now, it's stretched a little too far.

Dentist anyone?

Yesterday was our first official trip to the Dentist. We went about 3 months ago just so he could sit in the chair and she could count his teeth. He really didn't want to let her anywhere near him so that's all we did.

I have been talking this up for about a week. I let him know exactly what was going to happen and how much fun it would be and how easy it was. He definitely does much better in new situations if he knows exactly what to expect. He did GREAT! He did everything asked of him. She polished his teeth and flossed them. His teeth are in great shape. He is doing a super job brushing and the spacing is perfect right now. Hopefully we can keep it up and avoid any issues for as long as we can.

Pre-school is going great. He loves it. He has made so many new friends. I need to hook up with a couple of moms to set up play dates. He keeps asking me about it. I'm not too sure about French though. I think he already knows more words than I can remember :).

We go to Locomotion every Saturday morning. What a difference the summer made. He is so much more independent now. He really enjoys working with Bill and playing in the wonderful obstacle courses he makes.

We went to our first Karate tournament on Saturday. We went just to support the kids from our school and to show Ryan what it is all about. He left there talking about how he wants to compete next time. We had a great time. All of the kids did great and thought it was awesome that Ryan was there cheering them on the whole time. He has kind of become like Norm from Cheers to everyone. He is always the first one everyone talks to and they all flock to him. It is really funny to watch. He is doing great and may even test for his next belt in December. I don't think he's ready to move up but the experience of testing will only help him later. Jimmie is testing for his next belt too so it's kind of a little competition at the house. Of course, Ryan is an orange belt right now while his dad is still a white. Sorry Jimmie :). Good luck to the both of you.

Liking the color Orange

Oh my... I need to do a lot of catching up :). Preschool seems to be going great. His teachers both say that he is doing wonderful and that he is a pleasure to have there. He on the other hand, doesn't seem to like to talk about it. He has made a lot of new friends and is always excited to go. Dropping off isn't quite as smooth, but after a little time, he willingly says goodbye. I hope that part gets easier soon. It breaks our hearts some mornings when he just wants you to stay. I am going to stick with the assumption that unless I'm told differently, things are going great.

Gymnastics started back up a couple of weeks again. We didn't know what to expect. Last year, one of us did it with him because they were so young. This year, he's on his own. Let me just say that we were all pleasantly surprised. He runs right in and does a great job. He is becoming so independent. It is a wonderful thing to see.

Karate... WOO HOO! My little man was promoted to ORANGE BELT last night. Last week he tested for his new rank and did perfect. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he is only 3. He didn't know he was getting it. We just told him there was a party at Karate. Someone must've slipped because all of a sudden he yells "I"m getting an Orange Belt, WOO HOO". He was one VERY excited little boy. Baby Doll has been bitten by the Karate bug now too and we think she will try it out this Saturday. I am having many, many mixed emotions about this. Time will tell.

Day 1.... A SUCCESS

Pepere and I went to pick him up yesterday. We weren't late, but the other parents were really early. Poor Ryan was standing there, just watching the door, in great anticipation. He saw me and lit up like a light bulb :). He was smiling away. It was a little crazy with everyone there so all's I got was that he did great and he was wonderful. We left and went out to lunch. I kept questioning him but he was too pre occupied playing to really give me the low down. He did say that he liked it and that he wanted to go back. He liked the cheese they had for snack time :). This morning, he ran into the playground and starting playing with all the other kids and forgot I was even there. Miss Arlene said he was wonderful yesterday and that he was a very happy child. It was nice to hear.

Preschool Dropoff

I am in tears. He's fine. We went to open house last week and have been prepping until we were blue in the face. Preschool is only for kids, we drop you off and then will pick you back up before lunch, you will have new friends, new toys, new books to read, great teachers... You get the point. I walked him inside to drop his stuff off and made a quick trip to the great little kids potty. Then we met his class outside on the playground. He found a corner with trucks in it and was in heaven. He looked up at me and said "Are you leaving now mommy?". That was when I knew he would be ok. Miss Pat took my hand and said it's ok, we'll see you at 11:30.

Vacation week

Oh so much to catch up on. We were on vacation last week and had a perfect week. The weather was wonderful. We went to NH for 3 days and went to Storyland. Ryan loved being in a hotel (except he kept calling it the hospital???). He loved Storyland. When we went on Tuesday, it rained a little in the morning so the park was empty. It was great. He only wanted to go on the tallest or fastest rides. He LOVED the roller coaster and log flume. He is such a little thrill seaker. We also went back to the little train museum down the road. He could literally spend hours and hours just looking at all the different setups. We will definately miss the place is it ever closes.

Potty training is offically done! I can't remember the last accident. However, he has now taken to calling us into the bathroom to show us his "big beautiful poop". Yeah, they are going to love him in preschool.

We go to visit preschool on Sept 4th and his first day got moved to the 8th. This really stinks because I need to be at work that day and Jimmie has his riffle course that day. I'll make it work, somehow.

Karate has changed him. He LOVES it and would go everyday if we could take him. Right now he goes 3 days a week. He just earned another star for his uniform. When we went to Storyland and needed to wait in line, he was fine. It didn't bother him that people were close to him or than they were even behind him. Karate has helped him in so many ways. I am so glad we found it and stuck with it.

He has his first sleepover last week. He slept at Memere's house. He went to bed late and slept through the night. He thought it was great.

He is just such a joy right now. I didn't want to come back to work this week :(. I can't believe how fast he is growing. He called me at work yesterday and told me that when he grows up, he wants to be an astronaut. I love you buddy and I hope you know that you can be anything you want to be.

Just a little update

We had PT eval this morning. There are still some areas we need to work on. We are going to do some special things at home and go back in 1 month for another eval. If he is still behind, we will resume weekly sessions.

Karate is gong GREAT! He even talks about how much he likes it. I am so very proud of him. Every session, they have an oath they say at the beginning and end of class. He has never even uttered one word of it. He would do the hand gestures but that was it. On Monday, he said the oath at the end of class, from start to finish. Mr. Lovely was amazed. He is so funny. He won't do anything until he knows he can do it completely and correctly. The first time he counted, it was to 20. The first time he tried his ABC's, he said the whole thing. Correctly. I am sure this part of his personality is why he only said one word at age 2.

He is continuing to do great with the potty. He even sleeps in just underwear and no accidents.

I have been trying to prep him for pre-school which starts in a couple of weeks. I have been trying to explain to him how we drop him off and he stays there by himself and then we will return to pick him up. I know he is understanding what I am saying because he will even say it on his own. Now, I'm just not sure if he is going to like it. Of course, it doesn't make it easy on him that the only people we have ever left him with are my parents. Oh, and poor UB when he was 6 months old.

We are on vacation next week. As much as I love my job, I so need this vacation. We are going away for a couple of days and then will hopefully get some work done around the house. If we just cuddled all week, that would be ok too :).

Just one more minute

Nap time seems to be a thing of the past. Sorry Pepere :(. It seems like we are now at the point where he will take a sporadic one here or there, but for the most part, they are a thing of the past. This means that we have pushed his bedtime back down to 8. So far so good. However, a couple of times a week, when he has had a really busy day like Monday, he will fall asleep on me while we are doing our rock and read. Every night we sit in the rocking chair and read 2 books of his choice. When the 2 books are done, he knows it's bedtime. This has always been our special, quiet daily bonding time. I LOVE this time. Last night was one of those nights that he fell asleep while reading. I know that someday, this time together will end. I had to hold him just one more minute and make sure I thanked God for my most wonderful gift. I don't know how I ever existed without him. I still get tears in my everyday when I watch him.

He had PT yesterday morning and is progressing wonderfully. I can't wait for the day when he has graduated from all of his services. He has come so far!

We also had Karate last night. Just me and him. We got there early and I need to say... it went GREAT! There were a couple of kids there and some bigger kids. He earned another tiny tiger patch because he always brings so much energy to class and is so good at following instruction. I am so very proud of him.

Going to consider it a success

I believe we are POTTY TRAINED. WOO HOO!!! He has not had an accident since Tuesday and has done wonderful. He is still wearing pull-ups at night but for the last 4 days they have been dry in the morning. I am so very proud of him.

Karate on Saturday was great! Ok, he was the only one there again but that is ok sometimes. He worked hard for 45 minutes straight.

We went to Palace Playland on Sunday with Jack and Ella. He is definately a thrill ride seeker. He loved the faster/higher rides. He had so much fun. He just idolizes Jack and would do everything Jack would do. He and Ella act like best buds. I am so glad we went.

It's days like this that I waited for

Yesterday was GREAT! Buddy was in the greatest mood. No attitude, no crying, just happy laughs. Potty training was great. No accidents. Karate was great. He went on the mat and was loud and did everything asked of him. He even earned 2 elastics. He acted up with Colin (the older 3 year old there). It was pretty funny to see them playing together and getting into trouble together. He's never reached out to the other kids before. We got there early and he went on the mat with Mr. Lovely alone for about 15 minutes. He then even waited on the mat for class to start. I'm not sure if this is what helped or if it was the vanilla ice cream with extra chocolate sauce to keep him awake because he hadn't napped. His father showed up 1/2 way through and was amazed and how well he was doing.

I'm not sure what happened last night though. About 1:30 he woke up. When I went in he was upset about shadows in his room. He kept asking to come sleep in my bed with me. I kept explaining to him that he needed to sleep in his room and tried to get rid of all the shadows. I finally crawled back in bed about 4:45. Uuuuggghhh.... I'm dragging bum today.

A little accident or 2

3 pee's in his pants and a poop as Pepere was asking him if he needed to go :(. We made a new rule. If you go in your pants, you put a car back into the bucket. The afternoon he did great and so far so good today.

OMG... Maybe just a fluke?

Today, he went all day in just his underwear. NO ACCIDENTS :). He even made a poop on the potty. His first time. When he got up he started crying and was yelling at Pepere to "get it out". Pepere was the wonderful man he is and explained that it's ok and what to do with it. Crisis averted. I am just so amazed at how well he is doing with it.

Karate. We are at our wits end. I don't get it. I don't get why it was ok and now it's not. I don't get why he won't go out on the darn mat. I DON'T GET IT. Jimmie is so frustrated. He spent yesterday yelling and Ryan spent the day crying. Yep. Great progress. Maybe he is just too young. I worry that if we don't stick this out, we are setting ourselves up for failure in many things to come. I feel that we need to do this for him. We will try again on Wednesday. Mr. Lovely said we could come in a 1/2 hour early to work alone with him. That would be great except it takes an act of congress just to get him there for class, nevermind earlier. Part of the problem yesterday is that he was awoke from his nap to go. Lately, his naps are not consistant and are getting later. I'm not sure if he's trying to give them up but he is a bear when he skips them so I feel like he still needs them. I think this is part of our Karate problem. He is either overtired come 5 o'clock because he hasn't slept or he was awoken from his nap and is a bear. I will try to get him there a little early on Wednesday to see if it will help at all. Stay tuned...