Second week of school, that is.
After picking Goosey up from school yesterday, she mentioned that her allergy medicine must have started working because her sneezing and sniffling had stopped. But she said she could not swallow because her throat was so sore. She whimpered during her homework time, so I thought I would try to get her in to see the doctor.
Good thing. The rapid strep test came back positive. Bleck. So she missed her first day of school in the second week. She has a new allergy medicine and an antibiotic.
She has felt great today. Cleaning up her playroom, reading books, doing a little bit of extra homework, and waiting for Grandmom and Grandad to arrive for the long weekend.
Now if the rest of us can stay healthy, we will be good.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A Puffed-Up Mama
Little Man had his speech evaluated today. He was very excited to have a new area of toys to play with and new people paying attention to him and only him. He started out throwing a small tantrum over having a toy removed from the room since it had become a HUGE distraction.
And as I predicted, the case worker scheduled the evaluation with a psychologist, rather than a speech therapist. I just sat back and kept my mouth shut. Little Man was very impressive in his fine motor development and problem solving skills. He was able to pick up a pair of scissors and cut a paper properly. (We don't allow him to have scissors, so it surprised me.) He was able to screw a bolt in and out of a puzzle, to look at a picture of a clown and then several pages later, pick out the same clown from a page full of clowns. He took apart every toy he could and put it back together. Daddy Mac would have been over the moon proud.
His speech was a tad behind, but not as far as we expected. He can say individual words clearly with the back end of the word dropped off the majority of the time. His lack of articulation and integration of into a sentence is not a concern evidently. They would be more concerned after the age of 3.
I asked if a speech therapist could look at him and lo and behold, the one speech therapist for 5 counties just happened to be in the building. (Pays not to have people come to your house for evaluations). She tested his hearing and articulation and felt that he was within a "normal" range. I felt good about hearing this from someone who deals with it day in and out.
Here is my brag: The psychologist told me that for the particular test that he was given, a normal range for all things tested was anywhere from 85 to 115 and Little Man tested at 110! She told me that he could possibly be the most intelligent client she has seen in "I can't remember seeing a child this advanced at this age!" =) She said that he had skills that she would expect to see emerging in a child that was three and a half to four years...not two and a half!
So I guess that means where he is slightly lacking in the verbal, he is more than making up in other aspects of his development!
And as I predicted, the case worker scheduled the evaluation with a psychologist, rather than a speech therapist. I just sat back and kept my mouth shut. Little Man was very impressive in his fine motor development and problem solving skills. He was able to pick up a pair of scissors and cut a paper properly. (We don't allow him to have scissors, so it surprised me.) He was able to screw a bolt in and out of a puzzle, to look at a picture of a clown and then several pages later, pick out the same clown from a page full of clowns. He took apart every toy he could and put it back together. Daddy Mac would have been over the moon proud.
His speech was a tad behind, but not as far as we expected. He can say individual words clearly with the back end of the word dropped off the majority of the time. His lack of articulation and integration of into a sentence is not a concern evidently. They would be more concerned after the age of 3.
I asked if a speech therapist could look at him and lo and behold, the one speech therapist for 5 counties just happened to be in the building. (Pays not to have people come to your house for evaluations). She tested his hearing and articulation and felt that he was within a "normal" range. I felt good about hearing this from someone who deals with it day in and out.
Here is my brag: The psychologist told me that for the particular test that he was given, a normal range for all things tested was anywhere from 85 to 115 and Little Man tested at 110! She told me that he could possibly be the most intelligent client she has seen in "I can't remember seeing a child this advanced at this age!" =) She said that he had skills that she would expect to see emerging in a child that was three and a half to four years...not two and a half!
So I guess that means where he is slightly lacking in the verbal, he is more than making up in other aspects of his development!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Not much going on.....
Little Man and I are hanging out today. Goosey is at school and the house really echos when she is gone. I now know what my parents meant when I left for college...a void. Not to say that I don't enjoy my time with Little Man. Trains, sword fights, and spider man pretend keep us pretty busy.
In a couple of days, Little Man will have his speech and hearing evaluated by Early Intervention people. I am a bit concerned about it. Mostly because I think that I am going to get severely shafted. The state only provides one speech pathologist for a five county region. I "think" that we are going to get a regular psychologist to do a general evaluation. Mama Mac may have to become Mama Bear to get the evaluation that we are in need of.
Plus, on top of all of that, our case worker wanted to do the evaluation in the home. The eval room was double booked and she basically invited herself and the eval team over here. I told her to reschedule us because Daddy Mac works at home and I just do not feel comfy letting them in....like they are evaluating me instead of a speech issue. She insisted that it would be less distracting to do it at my house rather than her office which has a desk and a couple of chairs (not kid friendly). I again told her to reschedule us. We'll see how it goes.
Well, off to do more laundry. It NEVER seems to stop. Seriously.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Best Day Yet! (First Day of First Grade)
So today marked the first day of Goosey's first grade school year! It was off to a great start. She was up and excited about going, eager to get in the car, ready for us to leave. Perfect morning for a drop off. Daddy Mac, Little Man and I meandered over to the local bagel place to eat some yummy breakfast. We discussed the day and Little Man seemed to be happy with his muffin in the absence of his older sister.
Our day was pretty boring. We played trains, washed clothes, dropped by the library and Target. Little Man did do a little sneaky move: After we returned to the house, he came over and showed me that he loved my mini-muffins that I had made the night before. A few minutes later, he came by again with a stuffed mouth. I finally got up to see where he was getting these muffins, originally thinking that Daddy Mac had left some out for him. The little booger had reached up on the counter, pulled down the bowl and proceeded to eat about 9 of the mini-muffins.
Anyway, knowing that this was going to be an extremely busy afternoon, I decided to get in the pick up line at school extra early. See, Hannah's day is over at 3 PM. I needed to have her back to the house, changed, fed a snack and back in the car by 4 PM. Why? Because ballet class starts promptly at 4:30 PM and is in a town 25 minutes away.
My plan worked. I arrived early enough to be about the 10th car in line and parked in the alley on school property. It has been so hot here. Over 100 degrees every day for over a week. I let the car idle for about 10 minutes and felt guilty about our poor air quality issues and wasting gas. So I rolled down the windows, turned off the car and started reading a book.
As the kids started to come out of their classrooms, I tried to start the car. The operative word here is TRIED. The battery was dead! With approximately 300 cars behind me, I panicked! I jumped out of the car and started looking for the most
official person at the pick up station. There was another board member who I knew and I told her what was going on. She had this crazed look in her eyes and started radioing various and sundry people to help me get the car out of the way. There were four men, only one who could speak minimal English, who pushed my car to the end of the alley and then jumped my battery. I was so grateful! At least it happened in a safe place.
So my little incident caused us to be about 20 minutes later getting to the house. With a whirlwind effort, Goosey and I were back in the car within a few minutes and on our way to ballet. We were there just in time...just as the class was starting. It was nice to be able to breathe easy for the next hour.
Once the class was over, we headed back home in rush hour traffic. We arrived home later than I had anticipated and had to shovel in some dinner. Less than 20 minutes later, I was off and running to a school board meeting.
So now I am home, have a dull headache, some weary bones, and sunburned feet (from standing outside for 20+ minutes getting my car taken care of). I am going to take a bath and go to bed.
I wonder how it will be tomorrow....
Our day was pretty boring. We played trains, washed clothes, dropped by the library and Target. Little Man did do a little sneaky move: After we returned to the house, he came over and showed me that he loved my mini-muffins that I had made the night before. A few minutes later, he came by again with a stuffed mouth. I finally got up to see where he was getting these muffins, originally thinking that Daddy Mac had left some out for him. The little booger had reached up on the counter, pulled down the bowl and proceeded to eat about 9 of the mini-muffins.
Anyway, knowing that this was going to be an extremely busy afternoon, I decided to get in the pick up line at school extra early. See, Hannah's day is over at 3 PM. I needed to have her back to the house, changed, fed a snack and back in the car by 4 PM. Why? Because ballet class starts promptly at 4:30 PM and is in a town 25 minutes away.
My plan worked. I arrived early enough to be about the 10th car in line and parked in the alley on school property. It has been so hot here. Over 100 degrees every day for over a week. I let the car idle for about 10 minutes and felt guilty about our poor air quality issues and wasting gas. So I rolled down the windows, turned off the car and started reading a book.
As the kids started to come out of their classrooms, I tried to start the car. The operative word here is TRIED. The battery was dead! With approximately 300 cars behind me, I panicked! I jumped out of the car and started looking for the most
official person at the pick up station. There was another board member who I knew and I told her what was going on. She had this crazed look in her eyes and started radioing various and sundry people to help me get the car out of the way. There were four men, only one who could speak minimal English, who pushed my car to the end of the alley and then jumped my battery. I was so grateful! At least it happened in a safe place.
So my little incident caused us to be about 20 minutes later getting to the house. With a whirlwind effort, Goosey and I were back in the car within a few minutes and on our way to ballet. We were there just in time...just as the class was starting. It was nice to be able to breathe easy for the next hour.
Once the class was over, we headed back home in rush hour traffic. We arrived home later than I had anticipated and had to shovel in some dinner. Less than 20 minutes later, I was off and running to a school board meeting.
So now I am home, have a dull headache, some weary bones, and sunburned feet (from standing outside for 20+ minutes getting my car taken care of). I am going to take a bath and go to bed.
I wonder how it will be tomorrow....
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Last Day
Today is the last day of summer vacation for the Macs. Goosey will be returning to her job as a full time student of the first grade tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. However, that does not mean we get up at 8 AM....no, we get up at 6:15 AM and the chaos begins. There will be whining about getting up and crying from being plucked from a toddler bed. There will be silence while food is shoveled into the bellies. (I am so worried about her getting hungry during the day. They are having a late lunch period and I can't stop obsessing about her being hungry, which equals distracted.) There will be short bursts of commands concerning book bags, diaper bags, lunch bags, school supplies, uniform uniformity, combing of the hair, brushing of the teeth and actually stepping out the door. There will be pausing for pictures and offerings of prayer.
There will NOT be wailing and gnashing of teeth or tearing of the garments, at least from me anyway. I am ready for first grade. Goosey is ready for first grade. Little Man...well, I don't think he is going to be ready to have his big sister gone. This is where we will have a bit of a problem. He is going to be so lost for the next week or so. I will become the primary playmate, I think.
So this last day of summer vacation will be a preparation day for the school year. Lots of organizing, lots of labeling, lots or ironing and packing. A busy day is getting ready to start.
There will NOT be wailing and gnashing of teeth or tearing of the garments, at least from me anyway. I am ready for first grade. Goosey is ready for first grade. Little Man...well, I don't think he is going to be ready to have his big sister gone. This is where we will have a bit of a problem. He is going to be so lost for the next week or so. I will become the primary playmate, I think.
So this last day of summer vacation will be a preparation day for the school year. Lots of organizing, lots of labeling, lots or ironing and packing. A busy day is getting ready to start.
Monday, August 6, 2007
A Fish Is Born
Last night was a huge night. Something very important happened in the Mac family: Goosey Lou started to swim! By herself! No floaties! No kickboard!
We have been going to the pool ALOT lately. Not because the kids love it so much (they do) but because Mama Mac needs a scene change pretty frequently now that the end of summer is approaching. When I can, I have been taking Goosey alone so that we can get in the big pool and practice bobbing and blowing bubbles and floating. If Little Man goes, we normally have to stay in the kiddie pool.
So last night, we were in the big pool and Goosey was showing me how she could float on her tummy without holding her nose. She showed great proficiency with this particular task and decided to start kicking her feet and moving her hands. Lo and behold...the child could swim by herself underwater! I can't tell you how excited we were!
So we spent the next two hours swimming back and forth from one side to another of the big pool. Over and over and over. She still won't float on her back without a death grip on me, but we will take it as it comes!
As for Little Man, we bought him a Spider Man swim vest. It has little muscle bulges on it! He loves it and looks adorable. He likes to jump in the big pool holding someone's hand....that is the way we like it.
We have been going to the pool ALOT lately. Not because the kids love it so much (they do) but because Mama Mac needs a scene change pretty frequently now that the end of summer is approaching. When I can, I have been taking Goosey alone so that we can get in the big pool and practice bobbing and blowing bubbles and floating. If Little Man goes, we normally have to stay in the kiddie pool.
So last night, we were in the big pool and Goosey was showing me how she could float on her tummy without holding her nose. She showed great proficiency with this particular task and decided to start kicking her feet and moving her hands. Lo and behold...the child could swim by herself underwater! I can't tell you how excited we were!
So we spent the next two hours swimming back and forth from one side to another of the big pool. Over and over and over. She still won't float on her back without a death grip on me, but we will take it as it comes!
As for Little Man, we bought him a Spider Man swim vest. It has little muscle bulges on it! He loves it and looks adorable. He likes to jump in the big pool holding someone's hand....that is the way we like it.
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