Milestone alert…………..

Tommy took four steps tonight.  My hubby had him walk to me and he did four steps independently!  YEAH TOMMY!!!!!!!!!  I have a feeling he will be walking before his birthday!!

And all the way out of church he waved Bye, Bye………….AAAAhhhhhhh…. I love this age!

Ok..rest your eyes from reading all my babble……I am off to bed myself! 

Oh..yeah a Nick update I forgot to share.  As many of you know I have been the only one he has allowed o cut his hair since he was about 2 years old or so.   The other day he got his hair cut and he sat so nicely and we only had to take two breaks to finish.  This is great!! 

And…drum roll please…………………….No More Pull-ups.  My SIL called me and said they were coming over and the kids would be in PJ’s.  We were to make sure to comment on how Nick didn’t have a pull up on and where was it did he forget???

Nick informs me when I inquired about his pull-up.  I don’t need those anymore!!   I will give the rest of mine to Tommy!  LOL!!  We were very proud that he has made this milestone!  Now mabye his little sister can begin on potty training!

Tomorrow is an early day at work.  I have to appear in court for a review of a placement at 9:00am.  I have very few placements so this is not a usual activity for me.  I don’t like to appear in court. 

Being in the field that I am a developmental disabilities social worker, I get a lot of questions about kids from others.  I am still in a quandary about my own nephew.  As many of you know my nephew has autism.  He actually is diagnoses with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Just a bit of detail for those that don’t know much about my family.  My SIL is having a bit of trouble with the school and I am torn as to how to tell her to go with her problem.  It is different when I advocate for the children on my caseload, most are not as capable as my nephew or do I know as well.  I take care of my nephew many evenings every week, so I know him very well.  He is struggling in school with fine motor activities, like writing, coloring and drawing.  He isn’t able to do these activities as fast as the other children.  I am torn on the reason for this, one it could be his delayed fine motor skill or two it is not the activity he *wants to be doing.  

So my SIL asked me if she should let the school adapt his school work and only have him do one example or question when the other children do all of them.  He understands the concepts with the one example and is actually a bit ahead academically then the other children.  Nick is a regular ed classroom with no assistance. 

So here is my thought on it and this is what I told her, though I am still rethinking this a lot.  I told her to wait a bit and see if he starts to get more with the flow of the classroom since transitions and change can be hard for him.  At conferences they can talk about options, having him go to a less stimulating area during those more fine motor skills for him.  Or have him complete the work at home. 

My quandary on this is from my past experience with my oldest son.  Josh is very intelligent and misbehaved a bit in school when he was younger due to not being challenged, etc.  So they adapted his school work, he only had to do one problem when the others had to do many repetitions to learn the material.  The problem this caused in my opinion is that at some point in life you don’t know everything and you actually have to learn.  Josh has hit the spot in a few classes, though most things still come very easy to him.  But he does not have the skills to complete and work through longer activities.  He is unable to write long stories, etc partly because he doesn’t like to and partly because he never had to.  They adapted it for him since he was bright and didn’t like to write.

So back to my nephew, Nick.  I am afraid with as smart as he is if they lessen his work to less than the others that is all he will achieve.  Personally I don’t think making him complete those activities at home is such a bad idea since he needs the fine motor practice.  He works on handwriting in occupational therapy at school and in private sessions.  So this should be interesting to see how it plays out.  Nick is only in 1st grade, but you don’t want to set a pattern with him that you later want to try to break.  So I warned her to think this through to pass first grade and into future grades.  What do you want for him? 

I am definitely in my “thinking about school programs” frame of mind tonight, not like I don’t do that all day at work.  Tonight we went to Open house at Josh’s school, high school that is!  Wow is that weird.  Anyway I am very impressed with the communication I have gotten from his communications and algebra teacher.   They both had email mailing list that they send to each Monday.  It is wonderful!!!  I have all the assignments and stuff for the entire semester.  I hope his teachers next semester will do the same.   Email is the way to go!  

I spoke to the communications teacher, since as I discussed above, Josh hates to write.  It is not that he is unable, he just is a lot like me and is a perfectionist.  If he doesn’t think he can write the most profound thing in the world, he won’t do it.  He would rather get a “0” then be embarrassed by work he believe is below his standards.  I tell him just write what ever already!!  So he struggles as do I with the same thing.  Except on xanga, this is like venting for me…someone to whine about my day too.  By typing out my thoughts I am able to digest what I think more, etc. 

She did say he scored very well on his reading scores, this I already knew.  He reads at college level and has for a few years.  I just need him to get that knowledge out on paper.  So I think we will be struggling with that a bit this year.   He has a huge grad standards project due on a plot and character analysis.  I think he has chosen a book, but isn’t done reading it yet.  SO I think I will have to sit down with him and figure out a timeline for completing this. 

Ok..sick of hearing about education junk..that is what my day has been like!   Anyway Josh babysat Tommy for me when hubby and I went to Open house.  Tommy was sleeping when we left and I told Josh he is going to have to change his diaper when he gets up.  He is ok, but he better only be wet.   So Josh changed him and took him in the living room to play with him.  About 2 minutes later Tommy fills his drawers.  It smells and Josh has to changed it.   I get home he says “You owe me soooo big.  I had to change 2 diapers!!!’  Josh has only changed a total of 3 diapers since Tommy has been born.  He avoids it.  I was proud of him for changing him right away and not leaving him for until we got hone.  He is a good boy!

I have to write him a note to get out of school tomorrow.  Hubby has to take hi mto the dentist since I think either he is getting his wisdom teeth in or they are infected.  He is all swollen and it hurts to eat.  ARGH!!  So he will have that looked at tomorrow. 

Well Tommy just went to bed, so I better too so I can get up early.  If you made it this far…good for you……….and thanks!  Sometimes I just have to ramble a bit to clear my head before bed.

Night!

Morning…….I slept pretty well last night for once.  I woke a couple of times, but could go right back to sleep.  I am continuing to exercise a lot, but I have yet to lose a pound.  That is so frustrating. 

Today is a busy day I have a lot I would like to get done at work.  I am hoping to be into the office early today since I can’t work late tonight.  Tonight we have Open House at Josh’s school.  We get to walk through his classes and stuff.  I would not have known about the Open House, but one of the teachers sends a weekly email newletter.  Josh forgets to tell me everything!

I was suppose to babysit tonight, but since we need to go to open house, I had to cancel babysitting.  Well I am off to start my day………Have a great Tuesday.

I got home from work around 6:30 tonight so that was great, much earlier than I anticipated. 

Ok…I am at work.  Argh….still not feeling the greatest, but oh well.  I have a terrible headache. One meeting down and only two to go.  Then I can go home and nap   HA!  Monday is the day I do all the weekly cleaning at home.  I takes me about an hour to complete it all.

Still not feeling very well this morning.  Argh…I am going to try to make it through my day at work though since I have three meetings scheduled and I don’t want to reschedule.  I have one at 10:00, 2:30 and 5:00.  Argh…so I will be working late as well. 

Tonight is my night to clean the house, so I am hoping I can do that.  Need to clean the floors and junk.  If not…oh well.  I am off to shower and head to work.  Later!

Today did not turn out as planned.  Hubby didn’t want to go to the Children’s Musuem, which wasn’t so bad since Erik wasn’t really listening again today.  Actually I think Hubby just wanted to watch the Viking Football game!   LOL!! Oh Well,,,,,,,,,,,,,

We ended up going to brunch at Denny’s since the sermon ran long and we didn’t get out in time for breakfast at Old Country Buffet. 

I was able to have a lovely afternoon nap, much needed as I think I am getting a sinus infection.  I have had a throbbing headache all day and pain in my sinuses.  We will see how I feel in the morning.  After a couple hours nap, I was up and straightened out a couple of cupboards in the kitchen while Tommy finished his nap. 

Once Tommy got up, we went for about an 20 minute bike ride.  Just Tom and Mom………It was nice.  He sang his little baby songs while we rode…He sounds like he is singing at least since he goes constantly! 

Tommy went down for another nap after that and I too did.  This one was short since hubby’s ex was coming to get Erik and we needed to talk to her about the assessment we are getting done on Erik.  I really don’t think she is concerned in the least about Erik.  She thinks he will just outgrow his problems….hmmm…never heard of a kid outgrowing a low IQ, but what do I know???  Wait….I work with children like this for a living!!!  Her comments is “That’s just Erik”.  Ok, when your visiting the child in prison, remember “that’s just Erik!” .  …Not that I think that is where Erik will end up, but this that attitude he isn’t going to succeed.  Erik Plays with fire….oh “that’s jsut Erik”.   Erik Spray Paints Tommy’s oak bed in storage, AAAH…that is just Erik.  Hmmm….no consequences???  The list goes on and on……………….. The frustration I see my hubby having over this is terrible.  He is coming to gripes way better than she ever has about where Erik is cognitively.  But that really isn’t the problem, the problem is the lying, sneaking, and not listening.

I need hep from you expert Mommies out there….What do I do about Tommy biting me all the time????   OUCH!!!  He gets excited when he sees me and bites me in the leg.  He gives me a hug and bites my shoulder.  I have marks all over me.  I have tried saying “NO BITE”.  which I decided to stop, since i think he thinks he is kissing me.  He does this out of affection and mostly to me.   So now when he is biting I say “Kiss, Kiss” and make a kissing sound.  NOt seeing much of a result, any suggestions???????

UT-Oh…Paul just put Tommy down for bed and he is crying.  I don’t think he is ready to head to bed yet!   Well time for me to head to bed.  Have a great week………..ARGH!! Tomorrow is Monday   I hope a good nights sleep will cure this headache!!

Morning…….it is nearly 8:00am.  I am up and semi awake.  I need to get ready and then we are heading to church for the 9:45 service.  After Church we well probably go to Old Country Buffet and then we are going to the Children’s Museum.  It is the free Sunday at the Children’s Museum.  I think TOmmy will have more fun this time since he can crawl around the habitat room now.  Before when we went he wasn’t crawling yet.

The chicken I made last night was really good, but take a lot of work to make.  I suppose it might not have been so bad if I had had two electric fry pans.  I had alot of chicken to fry, then I baked it.  Definitely not low fat with all fat it was fried in.  I also made stove top dressing, which Tommy really liked.  

Erik has been a terrible listener since getting here on Friday.  I hope today goes better.  Sure make the weekend no fun when you have to police him all the time.  Plus during his sleep over he snuck upstairs and got more snacks and stuff, which he wasn’t suppose to do.  Now I am suppose to be make invitations for his b-day party for next time he comes over.  ARGH!!  He wants to have a sleep over again, after that he is done with sleep overs for a while until he can listen.  Not exactly happy with that child this weekend.  We left him with Josh for about an hour when we went to a garage sale and he didn’t listen for Josh.   SO now Josh can’t babysit him and he needs to come with us everytime. 

Time to hit the shower…………later!  Have a great and relaxing Sunday!