Week 72

With the craziness of Hurricane Irene we did not post a blog last week.  I guess it was a good week to skip because we didn't have any new updates to share.  The kids spent most of the week up nonna's and papa's house.  Unfortunately the weather was not great and most of the time was spent indoors.

But we made up for a slow week with an extreme busy one this time around!


On Monday Ryan enjoyed celebrating Julia's 4th birthday.  Her party started at her dance school where the kids practiced dance moves, played games, and came up with a short dance routine.  We then headed over to a restaurant for pizza and cake.

Princess Julia and King Ryan

Ryan did a great job following directions, and enjoyed doing all of the dance moves.

This video is a MUST SEE!  Look at how Ryan is doing his best to concentrate and follow directions. (Maybe we should have signed him up for dance instead of soccer!) Then watch it a second time to see how Julia is following along, but a step behind everyone else because she would rather look at herself in the mirror than at the instructor!  These kids are a riot!

Click this link to watch the video: Dance Moves

Ryan loved Julia's cake so much that he told me he wanted a castle cake for his next birthday party!  Yes, I made the cake (with a lot of help from my friend Donna!)

As if one day of birthday activities wasn't enough, the next day Ryan attended his cousins' birthday party.  Amelia and Alyssa chose a Wizard of Oz theme.  They rented a big movie screen and played the movie while the guests sat on blankets and chairs.  We ate popcorn and snacks and cupcakes.  While most of the kids ran around waiting for it to get a little darker so the movie could begin, Ryan plopped himself down on the chair and waited patiently.  He didn't want to miss a thing!

Amelia and Ryan

Julia and Alyssa

Some of the kids wanted a picture with a surprise guest... the scarecrow!  Yes, that's me!

Before the summer ends and the new school year begins I thought it would be nice to stop by Noah's Ark so that the kids could see their old teachers again.  So on Wednesday we did some chores and then headed to their former school.  There were lots of hugs and tears... they missed the kids and the kids had missed them!


On Thursday Ryan was scheduled for surgery at 9:30 in the morning.  His doctor needed to remove the tube in his left ear (which was implanted February 2009 and still hadn't fallen out on its own) and place a patch over the spot where the tube was.  I was anxious about lots of things... him giving me a hard time about not eating or drinking in the morning, bringing him there by myself because Phil had to work, and trying to keep him calm so that he would cooperate.  I prepped him the night before and let him have a special toast and water snack in his bed (to which he replied "we've never done this before") and told him that he needed to fill his tummy before bed because we were going to skip breakfast in the morning.  He also helped me pack a stuffed animal and some snacks for the car ride home.  He wanted to know why he couldn't eat and I told him the doctor needed his stomach empty so that he could fix his ear.  He seemed to be okay with that.  

When he woke up in the morning he was okay with Julia leaving with Phil to go to school, and he was even okay getting ready and skipping breakfast.  When we got to the ambulatory surgery office he was a bit skeptical because it wasn't the usual office we go to for his ENT appointments, but he was happy to be there once he saw all of the toys they had set up in the waiting room. 
 
When we were called into pre-op, I ran into a bit of a snag.  Things had been going so smoothly up to this point but then the nurse had given him a hospital gown to put on, and he did not want to get undressed.  I could tell he was nervous; he was looking around at everything and he didn't even want to sit on the bed.  A movie was playing for him on the TV and he sat in the corner and watched.  He kept asking me if he was going to get a needle and if they were going to do something to his body.  I did my best to reassure him, and even got him to sit on the bed next to me.  He was very brave and did a great job while they took his vitals.  One of the nurses gave me my outfit to put on and told me that if I wanted to go into the special room to blow up balloons I had to wear it.  Once Ryan saw me put on my "surgical gear" he put on his gown and said he wanted to blow up balloons too.  The nurse "prepped" Curious George and gave Ryan an oxygen mask to play with and told him to practice blowing into it.  They then gave him a little liquid sedative (which he drank with no problem) to keep him calm.

At one point a nurse told Ryan that he looked like an astronaut with the mask on his face.  She then asked him if he wanted to go into space on a rocket ship when he gets older.  He replied, "No, cause then I would miss my family."  Awwwwww!!!!!  

He let us wheel him into the operating room.  The toughest part was putting the mask on him.  He was willing to put it on (and he started to blow into it because he thought he was going to blow up a balloon) but once he started to smell the gas, he fought it.  He shook his head back and forth for about 20 seconds until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he was out.  The entire time I leaned close to him and rubbed his head and told him that it was okay and he could go to sleep.  It was the longest 20 seconds of my life!


The procedure took a mere 15 minutes and the doctor came out to tell me that everything went well.  About 20 minutes later they brought me into the recovery room and I stayed with Ryan while he slept.  

 He looked so peaceful, and then all of a sudden, about an hour into his sleep, he jolted straight up and started looking around asking me why he was in a different room now.  He wasn't in any pain and he kept talking about how he went to go blow the balloon and he fell asleep, and then he would check with me to see if that was correct.  I told him that he fell asleep, then doctor fixed his ear, and then they rolled him into this room so that he could finish sleeping.  Once he was discharged he was so excited to ride in a wheelchair back to the car. 

He relaxed at home for a couple of hours and then he was back to his old self.  He came with me to pick up Julia from her first day at her Pre K class and by late afternoon he was running around playing with Julia as if nothing had happened.  The only time there was any indication of a procedure that day was around bedtime when Ryan complained of a headache.  He complained twice which he rarely does so I knew it must be bad for him to say anything.  I gave him Tylenol and let him stay up a little extra time until he felt better.

On Friday Ryan attended Young Hearts for the first time.  We wanted him to get acquainted with the building, his classroom, and the teachers before he officially starts on Tuesday.  Tuesday will also be his first day of Kindergarten so we wanted to ease him back to school with just one new place at a time.  They said he had a good day; he made new friends and had fun playing.  He was smiling when we dropped him off and smiling when I picked him up.


It is hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close and school is right around the corner.  It was not a very "academic" summer and I'm sure Ryan has regressed with many educational tasks.  But he advanced in many other areas.  His social skills have progressed tremendously, as well as his communication skills.  He is not as shy as he used to be, he opens up more frequently about how he is feeling, and his patience has grown.  When he loses his temper or has a meltdown, we're finding it easier to bring him out of it than in the past.  We've also noticed that he is better at following directions and his memory is sharp.  And best of all, in my opinion, is the increase in his affection.  I've been getting showered with hugs, kisses, and I Love You's!


DC

Week 67

This week we said goodbye to Noah's Ark.  Tuesday was the last day and the kids were sad to leave. Both Ryan and Julia had a lot of fun there and we will always have great memories of the place.  The kids loved Ms. Jessie so much that Julia insisted that Dawn send her an invitation to her birthday party.  

On Wednesday, Grandma came to visit and brought presents.  She brought Ryan a "some Assembly required" firetruck by Melissa and Doug.  Ryan insisted that we put it together right after dinner. Ryan sat very patiently next to me the entire time as I assembled it.  He was very excited and kept handing me different pieces as I put it all together.



Waiting patiently
















Finished product
















Julia's jewelry box.




















Dawn and the kids went up to Nonna's and Papa's house for the last part of the week.  They had such a great time and to top it off Tommy, Beckie, Amelia and Alyssa came up as well.  As you can see from the pictures that the four kids all had a great time together.
  


All together in the pool




Taking a ride with Uncle T!




Hanging out in the swing


















All in the tent!






New box GF Sugar Cones...Ryan was so proud and enjoyed these so much!




Trying out the Quad with Uncle T!




Driving Papa's Vette!



Video of kids in the pool.

Video of Ryan driving papa's Corvette.



Hanging out with Amelia!

  



Convincing Auntie B to use her iPhone! Ryan has Ipad withdrawal!





Swimming in the deep end with no swimmies!  



I Love my Mommy!  



In our friend Larry's boat on the Hudson River; passing by a barge.

Ryan as co-captain!

Excited to see a train go by!



We were skeptical if he would like the noise and motion, but he really enjoyed himself!



PC

Week 31

The kids attended their new preschool, Noah's Ark, this week.  They love it there!  Even Ryan's bus driver noticed a difference and mentioned to me that Ryan seems so much happier when he picks him up from daycare each morning. 

Julia's teacher, Ms. Jessie, watches them when I drop them off and she is quite the artist.  They attended five days this week and Ryan came home 4 of the days with a different train hat that she made for him.  As soon as we arrive, Ryan runs and picks out a Thomas the Train book.  He picks a character, and while they eat breakfast, Ms. Jessie makes him a hat.  It makes him feel SO special!  In order from left to right, meet Diesel 10, Lady, Percy, and Thomas.

I think in a previous blog Phil mentioned Ryan's progress at PARC, and how the teacher is teaching the kids to sing songs.  Well, there's been more to it.  While up at my parents' this past weekend, Ryan picked up a flag and...

I have to say that the first time he recited The Pledge of Allegiance it caught me totally by surprise and brought tears to my eyes!  When we got back home Ryan showed the video to Phil and he was also pleasantly surprised. 

Not everything has been great this week.  Over the past couple of weeks Ryan has been having meltdowns at home and at school when things don't go his way.  Simple things to typical people, like Julia not wiping her feet on the rug and his teachers asking him to hold a door open, have set Ryan off.  It doesn't help that Ryan and Julia have been fighting a lot more lately.  While we mentioned last week how independent Ryan has become, well Julia is doing the same, and they are clashing!  Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of loving moments between them, we just can't leave them alone for more than a minute because you never know what to expect.  And when things turn bad, it's fast and furious!

The kids made it through a Christmas card photo-shoot by mommy.  We bribed them with a lollipop to get dressed and spend 10 minutes outdoors letting me take pictures of them.  They happily accepted.  I would have given them a BAG of lollipops to cooperate, but they were happy with one!  They did a nice job smiling and following directions.  The photography wasn't too bad; not perfect but it will do!  Here's a sneak peek of a few of the photos... 
 

                               







                                  

By the way, did you know there's such a thing as Gluten Free turkey?!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  May you be blessed with a week full of family, food, and fun!

DC