Speed Racer

The other day, Reed got a new Harry Potter book at bedtime. He and Tod read a chapter together, then he took it to school the next day. He came home and said he'd finished the whole thing, and the book is 352 pages! We thought it was curious that he'd have so much time to read during school, so we asked his 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Dingus -- here's her response:

I require the children to always have a book handy when their work is done. I am truly amazed at his speed in reading. He seems to pay attention to my lesson, complete his assignments (although messy) and then read at every free moment. This is a great skill he has. Sometimes though, his speed misses important details in a story. He is very gifted, though.

She's always gotta harp on his messiness, but a nice note anyway!

Kindergarten's going great!

Amy and Mrs. Mitkowski at
meet the teacher day

Amy is doing so well in kindergarten, just like we thought she would. She is excited about everything they're learning, and is enjoying the structure and organization of the classroom. We are so incredibly fortunate to have gotten Mrs. Mitkowski and Mrs. Cote as her teachers – Mrs. Mitkowski really seems to see what Amy needs, and takes the time to do things that will help her. Amy has quickly learned to use lower case letters and is really reading, though I think she still doesn't feel 100% comfortable and confident with her abilities – she doesn't feel ready to sit and read on her own, though I think she's pretty well capable of it. Amy wanted to learn to write her name in cursive, so Tod showed her how and she's been busy perfecting her signature.

Amy learned to tie her shoes last month....just before she broke her wrist. She got that cast off yesterday, thankfully, so now we can get back to wearing tie shoes and reinforce her abilities. And that cast – it didn't slow her down one tiny bit. She's a bit too much of a pro at it...here's hoping for no more broken bones!

Today was our first parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Mitkowski. She reviewed how Amy did on the PALS (Phonological Literacy Awareness Screening) testing. The expected benchmark for kids as they start kindergarten is a score of 27 (I think that's right – somewhere in the 20s) and then they'd like kids to be up to a score of 81 by the end of the school year. Amy started the year with a score of 85. Wow.

Mrs. Mitkowski also said "You know Mrs. Cote and I try not to have favorites, but Amy just captured our hearts from the very first day." Wow, is that nice!

So far, so good!

You've got to be kidding!

Well, she's gone and done it again. On Thursday, October 7, Amy fell off a bike at her after-school program. I got there to pick her up about two minutes after she fell. I had a feeling, based on the way she was crying, that she truly was injured. I took her home and we tried to figure out how bad it was. She said her wrist really hurt, but said the pain was a 5 on the 1-10 pain scale, with 10 being how much it hurt when she broke her humerus. She could move her arm and bend her wrist forward but refused to bend her wrist back. About a half-hour of indecision later, I figured I should just take her to the urgent care and get it x-rayed.

Off we went, back to the same urgent care that missed her broken arm earlier this year. This time we got a doctor whose specialty was sports medicine, so I felt more hopeful that they'd get it right. Sure enough, she had a buckle fracture of the distal radius (the bone that connects to your thumb). Evidently kids' bones are soft and sometimes they can buckle, much like a soda can when it's crushed. She fell on her wrist just the wrong way. They bandaged her up and we went on our way. She got a super cool blue cast the next morning – two and a half weeks of that and she'll be good as new.

Same arm (right) as before....three months to the day. How crazy is that! We're thinking we might need to wrap her in bubble wrap every time we leave the house from now on.

Amy, from back in 2008

Last of the old info!

1/7/08 – Amy loves going to "school"! We took several days off over the holidays and Amy was really ready to get back to school and her friends.

1/23/08 – So I've been hesitant to say this for fear of jinxing things, but Amy is officially potty trained! It's been probably since the middle of December. Life is a lot easier now – no diaper bag to lug around, we just go! WOO HOO!

2/20/08 – Amy can pretty much write her name! The A has been going strong for a couple of weeks, and now the M and the Y are coming along. Sometimes she writes them in the wrong order because she runs out of room, but nonetheless it's pretty amazing! On her Valentine cards for her friends, she signed the A part of her name on all the cards, and I wrote the M and the Y. Her fine motor skills are terrific – she's still drawing lots of faces, which include eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, arms and legs. Wow!

6/14/08 – Today we were leaving Aunt Jennifer's house and Amy accidentally pulled the fire alarm that was just at the end of the hand rail at the bottom of the stairs. She was very traumatized as we waited for the fire trucks to arrive and explain to them it was an accident. I'm not sure she's going to want to go back to visit any time soon!

Reed, from back in 2008

Okay so it's quite a bit later, but I'm just now getting back to posting the last of my old notes about the kids. Here's the little bit I had about Reed in 2008, before I started this blog.

1/15/08 - On school days, we tend to struggle with you getting dressed and ready to go. A while ago, Tod had what has turned out to be a brilliant idea - he leaves a few workbook pages for you downstairs, so that you'll be excited about getting dressed to go downstairs. Lots of motivation things like this (sticker charts, etc.) work with you for just a few days...and we're grateful for every day something does work. But this has been a long-lasting thing. You are so eager to get down there and work on your sheets, you get dressed right away. Right now we're doing kindergarten sheets but I'm thinking we'll have to get first grade workbooks soon.

2/20/08 - You haven't taken naps at school probably since last summer, other than once in a while. Instead you spend all of nap time reading books - they put your cot in the library area just for that purpose. One day when I was dropping you off, you reminded the teacher that she'd said she was going to put some new books on the bookshelf; she said "you've read all of these, haven't you?" and you answered "Yes! Even the dictionary!". On weekends we can get you to take a nap probably half the time, if we lay down with you on our bed. Sleep just isn't really your thing!

Oh, I know it...

The other day I said to Amy, "Would you please stop growing up so fast? I'd like you to stay just like you are right now." and Amy enthusiastically said "I will, Mommy, I will!!" But then she whispered "Mommy, I can't really do that"....oh, don't I know it, baby girl.

Oh no!

Well we'd hoped the kids would make it through childhood with no broken bones, but no such luck! On Thursday, July 8, I got a call at my desk around 3:30 p.m. saying that Amy'd fallen on her arm and she was very upset. I headed down to her classroom and sure enough she was lying on the couch, white-faced and crying, unable to move her right arm. She had been at the multipurpose indoor play area, and was getting off the tire swing (that's like 8 inches off the ground) when she fell on her arm. She said the mats underneath her separated when she fell, so she may have fallen right on the cement floor.

I took her to the Urgent Care center right away, but I think we didn't get the greatest care there. She wasn't really able to say where her arm hurt, she just pointed at her elbow and refused to move her arm away from her body or straighten it. The x-ray tech wasn't so good at getting her x-ray done, and I'm afraid we caused her a lot of pain in the process. The doctor said the x-rays didn't show anything, she probably just had a deep contusion (bruise); he put a sling on her arm and said give her Tylenol and if it still hurt on Monday (4 days later), take her to an orthopedist. So off we went, thinking all was relatively well. Amy was SO very brave and a trooper to sleep with the sling on.

The next day, she was still in pain. By the early afternoon, we figured that there had to be something more wrong so Tod took her to see the pediatrician, Dr. Ben. Of course he assumed the urgent care docs did a good job of the x-rays, and thought based on the way she was holding her arm that maybe her elbow had popped out of place. Everyone in the place heard her screams as he tried to put it back in place – the poor baby!!! He said he thought maybe he felt it pop, but he wasn't sure...he said if it still hurt her in a couple more hours, to take her to the ER.

Sure enough, she was still in pain so Tod took her to the ER. This time they still had her straighten her arm out for the x-ray, and brave little girl that she is, she did it and they immediately saw she had a spiral fracture of the humerus, the upper arm bone. They gave her a more solid arm wrap and sling, and said to get to the orthopedist first thing the next week.

We had a busy weekend, going to two kids' concerts and generally having a good time – she barely slowed down at all.

I took her to the orthopedist on Tuesday, where they did more x-rays. We'd told her she could pick the color of her cast, but unfortunately the cast guy (I'm sure there's a technical name for that, but I don't know!) had already gotten the hot pink cast material out and started working on it without asking her what color she wanted....she was dressed in pink, so I guess he figured it was a safe bet she'd want pink. She really wanted purple. She handled the disappointment really well, though. The cast covered her whole arm, and it was h-e-a-v-y! The sling hung from her neck and seemed like it'd be pretty uncomfortable. Again, she amazed us with how well she handled the entire thing.

Amy spent nearly 3 weeks with the hard cast and again I just can't say enough about how well she took it – she wrote with her left hand, drew with her left hand, and managed to do pretty much anything she tried to do. The only thing that seemed to bother her was missing out on pool time, and missing the last "sprinkler days" at preschool.

After the initial 3 weeks, she got downgraded to something called a 'sarmiento sleeve' which was basically a sock-like piece of fabric to cover her upper arm and then a plastic velcro thingy that compressed her arm. Two weeks of that, and done!

We were just so incredibly impressed with Amy's resiliency, it was astounding. She goes back to the orthopedist in a month or so for a final once-over, and I think that's it. Hopefully she'll be no worse for wear!

The sweetest part

The sweetest part of every one of my days is when I get to kiss the kids goodnight. Every night I fix their covers back up for them, kiss them and tell them I love them. That little part of my day feels like I'm putting everything right for them in that moment, making them snug and cozy and warm, all right with the world. I treasure it.

To be loved by Kiki

Story time at the condo in Daytona, Sept. 2006

I wanted to write more about my Mom's passing, but honestly it has been so hard. As much as I am sad about not having her around for me, the hardest part is knowing that she won't be around for Aly, Reed and Amy. Those grandkids were everything to her, and it breaks my heart that she won't get to see them grow up, and they will no longer have the incredible experience of knowing they have a grandmother who thinks they're the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not sure that our kids will be able to remember much about her since they are so little, but I'm grateful we have loads of pictures where it's totally clear how much she loves them. 

This is all I can manage to write. We miss you so much already, Mom, but know you're continuing to watch over us all. Thank you for loving us.

Beyond sad

Just a very few words for now, from Kiki, who died on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 7 p.m.

She wrote this to Aly, Reed and Amy on August 2, 2009...

Always remember these two things –

NOBODY loves you like your Kiki

and

I am always with you.
Check the stars and know I'm there,
loving you from Heaven.

We miss you, and we love you more than words can say.

Tooth fairy, again

Yesterday Reed lost a top canine tooth at school (just as he hoped - the attention! the glory!). I was over at Mom's and so forgot to remind him to put the tooth under his pillow. Well lo and behold the tooth fairy left the golden dollar exactly where Reed left his tooth (on the kitchen table)! Reed thought that was so cool that "you can just leave your tooth anywhere in the house and the tooth fairy will find it!". Perfect, because he was starting to doubt (already!) the tooth fairy. Good job, Dad (Tod's idea).

Birthday Princess

Well Miss Amy turned 5 last month. Five! We had a great many celebrations honoring the occasion. We started with her birthday party – a tae kwon do party at Top Kick. Amy started doing tae kwon do earlier this year and she is just loving it!

Most of Amy's classmates were able to come to the party, which was really great. We also had our friend Nora there as well. It was incredible how well the kids listened to Instructor JP right off the bat as they began a mini-tae kwon do lesson. They did a few moves and played some fun games as well. All the kids had fun and the parents were amazed at the command JP had over the kids. Amy loved sharing tae kwon do with her classmates and was proud to demonstrate some of the kicks and things. After that, we moved on to cupcakes in the party room. Amy really wanted to help make the cupcakes, so we'd spent a lot of time making chocolate, yellow, and strawberry cupcakes which I frosted and Amy decorated (with some help from Tod and Reed as well). The party was a great success.

Now for the big day!! We had some appointments so we spent the day at home. Amy opened her gifts in the morning and was quite happy to get a shiny pink iPod, along with some other cool stuff. We made brownies in her brand new "Perfect Brownie Pan" and we relaxed.

Amy really enjoys listening to the "Absolutely Mindy" show on XM radio's Kids Place Live channel....they often have kids call in to request songs for their birthdays and generally make a big fuss. We knew we'd be in the car around 5 p.m., so I'd e-mailed Mindy to tell her it was Amy's big day, request a song and ask her to wish Amy a happy bday, and sure enough she did it! Amy was so thrilled to hear her name on the radio and Mindy talked for quite a bit about her, mentioning that Amy'd spent the day making brownies as well. It was super cool and I'm glad we were able to get that done! We were on our way out to Silver Diner to meet Poppy for dinner, at Amy's request (you get a free dinner and milkshake on your bday there). We had a nice dinner and then were able to stop by and visit with Kiki and Nikki for a bit. They gave her a super-cool iPod speaker thing that is cube-shaped, lights up and changes colors. So neat!

The celebrations weren't done yet, though! A couple of days later, we headed to Florida for spring break week. We spent a little time in Daytona before heading to Orlando to celebrate Amy's birthday. This is a trip that Mom promised to all the grandkids when they turned 5, and I only wish she'd been well enough to go with us. Amy was pretty sad when we told her we were going to Disney, because she knew that Kiki and Poppy wouldn't be there for her celebration like they were for Aly's and Reed's. But of course she was able to get over that somewhat and she had an amazing trip. We stayed at the Port Orleans Disney resort, which was really fun. The first day there, we headed for Epcot Center, the next day the Magic Kingdom, and finally we visited Animal Kingdom. The kids were really great, despite getting up early, getting to bed late, and doing what felt like miles and miles of walking. Just great. We were so happy that Reed was still into meeting the characters, since we were afraid he'd decide he was too cool for that sort of thing, you know now that he's SEVEN and all. But he enjoyed it this trip just as much as the trip when he turned 5....only this time he had to keep his distance from the princesses, who we somehow managed to completely avoid (without even trying!) on our first trip. His favorite character was Chip (of Chip and Dale, of course).

There were several special birthday moments at the park, starting with dinner at the Epcot Garden Grill. First, it was a neat place – the restaurant area actually rotates! Most of the food they serve is actually grown right there at Epcot, and you could really tell the freshness. While we had our family-style meal (selections of all you can eat food, one set for grown ups and one set for kids), we had visits from Mickey Mouse, Chip and Dale, and Pluto. At the end of our meal, they brought us the regular dessert but also brought Amy a special dessert of her own, a chocolate cupcake with Mickey ears on top, and they sang and brought her a card signed by all the characters. It was a pricey dinner, but so worth it! We had a great time.

Then the next evening at the Magic Kingdom, we had dinner at Cinderella's castle! It was really neat to be able to go inside the castle. The first thing we got to do was have our picture taken with Cinderella - and Amy had changed into her Cinderella gown before we ate, so they were both lovely visions in their blue dresses. Then we went up the stairs into the dining hall, which overlooks the park. I have to say that the dinner itself was less than spectacular (actually quite disappointing, given the extreme cost involved), but none of that mattered when we got toward the end of dinner. First, Amy got another yummy birthday dessert. Bonus! Then shortly after that, the princesses started arriving. They come in one by one and then wander around the dining hall greeting each table. First it was Snow White, then Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), then Jasmine (who Amy'd met earlier in the day, so she wasn't so keen on meeting her again - she refused to get her autograph since she already had it), and then Belle. Amy was just truly joyous the whole time, it was so great to see. This picture really captures how thrilled she was. It was so much fun!

That was about it for the birthday celebrations. She was very well feted on this grand occasion, and we're so fortunate that we were able to do all that for her. I hope she and Reed will both treasure the memories!

My best girl's 5th birthday

More on the subject of Amy's 5th birthday later, but right now I am just so happy that my Mom was able to talk to Amy on the phone just now and wish her happy birthday and tell her she loves her. I am so thankful, more than words can say.

So, a smart aleck, or what?

A week or two ago, Reed was having his spelling test. He was doing great, all the way up til #26. Evidently Mrs. Gill-Anderson has it drilled in their heads that whatever word she says right after she says the number is the spelling word. So she said "Twenty-six" and then had to tell a kid to "shush". Well you can guess what spelling word Reed wrote down. Shush. And got the question wrong because the actual spelling word was Speed. He said "She said 'the next word is your spelling word so that's what I wrote!'. Oh well.

What is it...

....about young kids that on school days they're dragging out of bed at nearly 7 a.m. claiming "But I'm still tiiiiiiired" and on weekends they're up at 6, ready to go? It's crazy and it's our everyday life. They aren't allowed to have "screen time" until 7 a.m. on weekends, and they (particularly Reed) get up early so as not to be a single, solitary moment past 7 when they start their TV-watching or game playing. Come Monday morning, though, we're the worst people ever for wanting them to get up.

I remind myself, though, that it won't be long at all before they're sleeping until noon on weekends and we're yelling at them for that!

Reed just said....

"How come when someone loses their hand they just usually replace it with an everyday object, like a spatula?" -- exactly who does he hang out with at school? :)

Evidently he meant cartoon characters, by the way.

Oh, sweet girl!

The other day Amy wanted to see pictures from our wedding. I sent her to look at a little photo album we keep out in the living room. From the other room I heard her turning the pages and then she said "So when you got married was the first time you ever kissed?" Ummm.....yeah, sure!

We have a 7 year old?

How did that happen? When did he get so grown up?

Time has obviously gotten away from me and here it is 2 months after Reed's 7th birthday before I got around to writing this.

Reed gets more independent all the time. It's wonderful to say to your child "Please pick up the marbles and put them away" and have the child say "Okay" and then DO it!

Books are still among Reed's bestest friends - in fact when we are on vacation this past August in Nags Head, North Carolina, on the wall of Logan's Ice Cream store was a poster that said "Books are friends that never fail me" and Reed said something like - wow, I love that poster! At this point, though, video and computer games are gaining ground...never to overtake books, but definitely they're important in his life. Back when Reed got his Nintendo DS game system (when he was 5), I feared he'd play it too much...but at that point he could take it or leave it, it wasn't a big deal. Now he plays much more regularly. When we got our Nintendo Wii system about a year and a half ago, he was so easily frustrated when he couldn't get things right on the first try, he whined and cried and it was a Whole Big Thing. Now he still gets frustrated, but he keeps trying, with much less whining.

This school year brings us much less fighting about homework, thank goodness. There are still bad days with whining ("This will take forever!" This is too hard!"), but mostly Reed knows it's gotta be done, so he does it. Whew. What a relief.

Reed thinks he's too grown up for some things now, which is of course bittersweet. He thinks a lot of the kids music he formerly really enjoyed is too "baby-ish" as he calls it. In the mornings when Tod walks him to school, he can only go as far as to cross the road with him, then Reed gives him a hug (well, it's more of a leaning-into than a hug) and heads off to his classroom. Long gone are the days of Reed enjoying wearing two different socks (it's been a while, but I still miss that!), but he's still okay with wearing socks with designs on them, those are preferred to plain ones.

Reed has a real, true best friend in Harrison. They were together in the K program at Winwood and then at CASA together last year, but this year they're just down to being in CASA together in the afternoons. They're mutually obsessed with each other, which is funny. I hope that years from now when they're in high school, they'll still be friends and then I can torture them with pictures and stories of how goofy they were together when they were little.

Reed continues to be an information sponge, wanting to learn new things constantly. I think he's really enjoying learning about grammar and sentence structure in first grade, and of course he still loves math. The social studies component of his day has been of interest to him as well, and he often comes home sharing facts about different historical figures.

This year's birthday celebration was a bit more low-key than years past. What Reed told us he wanted was to have some friends over and just play "party games" (but not Spin the Bottle, he was sure to point out....WHAT!?!?). So he invited about 6 boys over for pizza and cake, and we played a Star Wars version of pin the tail on the donkey, plus a pinata. They played Legos and briefly jumped on the trampoline (note to self: 7 7-year old boys together on the trampoline is a BAD idea). They were loud. They had fun. I think Reed really liked it!

We're so proud of him, and can't wait to see what the next year brings!