Week 145

This was a very difficult week for us.  On Tuesday, when Dawn posted last week's blog she wrote about how Jack was not feeling well.  Well as the week went on, Jack did not improve.  Even after several nebulizer treatments, Jack's breathing did not get any better, in fact it seem to get worse.  It got so bad that on Thursday evening Jack woke up several times in distress and he did not respond to three different nebulizer treatments.  After calling the pediatrician to let her hear how Jack was breathing and coughing, we took her advice and ended up taking him to the Emergency Room.  He was such a little trooper.  They tested for the flu, RSV, and Pertussis.  They took X rays, drew blood, and finally admitted him to the hospital around 4 AM on Friday morning.

Our sweet little Jack resting after a stressful evening in the ER.
Waiting to be transported to the pediatrics unit.

The final diagnosis was a double ear infection and Croup.  It took the pediatrician in the ER to dig out all the ear wax in Jack's ears to finally get a good look.  Once she did that she saw the problem right away.  We cannot tell you how many doctors and nurses during the week and that day looked in his ears and never bothered to get the ear wax out of the way to get a good look.  Once they gave him the medicine for the ear infection, a different medicine through a nebulizer treatment, and a steroid to help clear up the cough, his breathing improved.  He spent Friday night as well in the hospital to make sure everything was normal and was discharged on Saturday morning.  He is still not 100%.  His breathing is on the fast side, but his spirits are good.  He had a good night's sleep on Saturday, and Sunday was a good day.  Hopefully, this is the end of a long two weeks of Jack being ill and crazy week that we have had with everyone being sick!

At the hospital; starting to feel better!

What a difference 48 hours on the proper medications can make!

On the Ryan front, he had an okay week.  With all of the transitions since Thursday, he was a little off.  He was able to play video games with his cousin on Friday evening and really wanted to go over and play again on Saturday.  But we said no and he had a melt down to the point that he put his shoes on, coat on, and was going to "drive himself" to Uncle T's to play.  We were able to get him out of it by telling him that we were going to a birthday party across the street.  He was all set at the party until they decided to break out Wii bowling and then Ryan lost interest in playing with the other kids, and just focused on trying to get into the game.  We were only going to stay an hour and we had a tough time leaving.

On a positive note, Ryan received a 100% on his last religion test.  Given the fact that he gave Dawn and I such a difficult time studying for this test, it was great to see.  His teachers were really happy with his test and with how he handles himself in the class.  They told me that on test days Ryan sits by himself and keeps his eyes on his own paper.

Ryan really tries hard to please all of his teachers.  For example, they encouraged the kids to read more non-fiction books.  When we showed Ryan the book magazine and told him he can pick something out, he passed by the cool looking Ninjago books and picked a set of non-fiction books about Presidents Washington and Lincoln.  And on the announcements at school they talk to the kids about events such as no name calling week and the upcoming Penny Wars.  Ryan comes home and makes sure he does what he needs to in order to be involved.  If they ask the kids to wear blue to school, he reminds us that evening when we are taking out his clothes for the next day.  His new kick is this "Penny Wars" fundraiser they are doing.  He talks about it constantly and we give him coins for good behavior and he adds it to his baggy to bring to school to donate.  He even tried to take money out of his own wallet but I wouldn't allow it.  He really does get obsessed with these things, especially if it is a contest at school and his class has a chance to win something.  He will bring in coins to donate, like most of the other kids, but I would find it hard to believe that many of the other kids did chores to earn those coins.    While I'm glad he likes to get involved, I know that most of the time his efforts go unnoticed.  What comes easy to most kids takes a whole lot of effort from Ryan.

Hopefully with everyone feeling better, we can get back to our routine.  It will be an emotionally trying few days for all of us as Dawn's time at home on maternity leave comes to a close and she heads back to work at the end of the week.

PC and DC 

Week 144

I am a couple of days late writing about this week's happenings because when it rains, it POURS!  Where do I start???

Ryan...
Ryan had a dentist appointment to get 2 of his 4 cavities filled.  They gave him gas to calm him down and then a shot of Novocain.  The left side of his mouth was numb for several hours and he did not like the way it felt.  He kept chewing on his bottom lip.  Here's what he woke up to the next morning:

I don't have the heart to tell him that he has to go back in February to get two done on the other side of his mouth!

Julia...
Julia performed at her first big Irish Dancing feis over the weekend.  About 15 minutes before her group was to perform she complained of stomach and head pains, and she was burning up.  She put on a smile for her performance but immediately afterwards asked if we could go home.  She didn't even want to wait to hear the results.  We got home and I took her temperature- 101.8.  I found out the next day that she placed 3rd out of 15 contestants for her Reel step and 4th out of 10 contestants for her Jig.  Not bad for not feeling well!

Trying to be happy but feeling really miserable.  Thank you to Amanda, Karl, Elaine, and Aunt Nancy for coming to see her perform.

Jack...
Jack suffered from the Croup most of the week.  The doctor prescribed a steroid which didn't help much and I brought him back for another checkup last night.  He is wheezing so they gave us a nebulizer machine to bring home to administer Albuterol every four hours.  He goes back for a breathing checkup in a couple of days to see if the nebulizer and medicine is helping to open up his airways.

Despite the craziness and sicknesses going around, there were some fun moments for the kids.  Ryan attended a birthday party and the little girl's mom generously bought Ryan a package of GFCF cupcakes from Nature's Pantry.  They were made by a company called Food For All and were DELICIOUS!  They are based out of The Hudson Valley and sell their products in stores in the area.  If you live in the Poughkeepsie area, check out their website:  foodforall.biz

The kids also had some fun time with mommy and playing dress up with their cousins.

Little Jack Jack turned 6 months old.  Through his coughing we were able to get some photos of him by himself and with Ryan and Julia.  I just love the photo of the three of them!

DC

Week 143

Two years ago today we lost Baby Campbell #3.  A lot has happened since then and as difficult of an experience as it was, without it Jack wouldn't be in our lives.  We were too busy today to dwell and be sad, and it is embarrassing to say that I only paused for a moment to look at the ultrasound and remember.

This week Ryan began to take cod liver oil again, as encouraged by our visit to Dr. Cowan.  We are pleased with the ease Phil was able to administer this to Ryan.  Ryan remembered taking it a year ago, and as unpleasant as it is to drink, he is taking it well and the process is over within a minute.  I think back to when we first needed to give this to Ryan and how long it took, and how many shirts he ruined because the oil dribbling out of his mouth stained them.

We attended a birthday party over the weekend and I want to share a sweet story regarding Ryan, a two year old girl, and the pinata.  Numerous times Ryan has been the one at the party that struggles gathering candy and prizes from the pinata.  There are usually bigger and faster kids who push their way to the center and hog the candy.  Ryan often ends up feeling defeated, walking away with a couple of things, crying.  This party was different.  A majority of the kids were very young so Ryan had no trouble gathering loot.  But there were a lot of kids and just behind Ryan was a two year old girl crying because she felt defeated.  Ryan turned to her and took all of the candy that he had gathered in his fist and handed it to her.  She looked at him and continued to cry, not taking the candy from his hands.  So he placed it down in front of her feet so that she could pick it up herself.  I couldn't have been more proud of him!

Ryan with his balloon sword.

Julia after her visit to the face painting station!

 There are times when Ryan refuses to do homework.  It takes a lot to get him to sit down and do more writing, after a long day at school.  This week he surprised us by doing an hour worth of homework.  He read the book, "Are You My Mother?".  After reading a few pages I looked at how many pages there were and asked him if he wanted me to finish it for him.  But he said no.  He wanted to read the whole thing.  It took him 30 minutes but he did it.  I was worried about it taking that long because he then had to write a book report but he did that as well.  He seems to enjoy reading when he knows the words, or when there are only a couple of words he needs help with.  We were so proud of him.

Happy Jack enjoying a day at home with mommy.

I tried out a new pancake mix and was pleased with how fluffy they turned out. However, like the others, after being refrigerated they tend to get crumbly.  But Ryan doesn't seem to mind, as long as they have his mini chocolate chips in them!

I mixed Ryan's chocolate flavored almond milk in to some of the batter to make chocolate chocolate chip pancakes and they were yummy.  I enjoyed them, as well as Julia, who can immediately taste the difference when I try to sneak something GF into her diet.

I read a book this week called Love Anthony by Lisa Genova.  I've had it since September and finally took the time to read it, and am so glad I did.  A big thank you to my friend Bridget who works in the book selling business.  She knows me well enough to know I would like it, and generously surprised me with it when she came for a visit to meet Jack.  I think part of me had put off reading it because I knew it would be sad, and it was.  Not sad because the boy dies, but sad because of the reality of how many children are on the Autism Spectrum, and are misunderstood.  But it was more inspiring than sad.  It reminded me of how far Ryan has come over the past couple of years, blessed that he is verbal, and thankful that he is who he is.  Also, it makes me want to visit Nantucket one day!

Here is the summary written on the back cover:

Olivia Donatelli's dream of a "normal" life shattered where her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three.  Understanding the world from his perspective felt bewildering, nearly impossible.  He didn't speak.  He hated to be touched.  He almost never made eye contact.  And just as Olivia was starting to realize that happiness and autism could coexist, Anthony died.  Now she's alone in a cottage on Nantucket, separated from her husband, desperate to understand the meaning of her sons' short life, when a chance encounter with another woman facing irreparable loss brings Anthony alive again for Olivia in a most unexpected way.  In a piercing story about motherhood, autism, and love, Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change who discover the small but exuberant voice that helps them both find the answers they need.

This story is so much more than simply autism, and even marriage, and I recommend it to everyone.  You don't need to have a child with autism or be married to connect with this book.  It is about communication, and we all communicate in some way.  I don't want to say much more since I feel the back cover already gives so many "spoilers".  Who wants to borrow it first???

DC

Week 142- Our 200th Post!

A couple of weeks ago we had quite the interesting conversation at dinner.  Halfway through I picked up my camera and caught some of the silliness on video.  Here it is...

Young Love


Then this week Ryan came home with a picture given to him by a girl in his class.

Ryan told me, "She drew me wearing clothes like I have to marry her!"  That led to another video filled with silliness...

 Young Love Part 2


After looking back at the Part 2 video I noticed how jittery and silly Ryan gets when he is nervous. He is running around in circles and spinning.  I haven't seen him do this in a while.

 This weekend Julia participated in her first feis for her Irish Step Dancing.  She placed 2nd for both the beginner reel and beginner jig.  For most competitions we are not allowed to take video or pictures at but we were for this one so here they are...

Julia Reel

Julia Jig

Two 2nd place trophies

 DC

Week 141

Christmas!  It finally arrived and Ryan could not have been happier.  He was so excited for the day that we had to tell him to not come out of his room until 6:00 AM and he had to come get us first.  Santa does not wrap his big gift and we wanted to catch the look of surprise on their faces when they came down the stairs. The big gift this year was a Nintendo DS.  They have been asking for a DS since the summer and Santa brought them one.  They were both thrilled.

However, with the holidays came lots of non-gluten free food.  It is tough to keep Ryan on a schedule and his diet with the long break.  He cheated a lot on his diet and we paid for it.  His behavior was extremely wild.  As a result of his wildness, his play became very rough.  He almost sent Dawn to the emergency room when he crashed into her knee.  He did not mean to hurt Dawn he was just so wild and rough he hyper- extended her knee.  Dawn ended up spending the majority of the morning on the couch icing her knee.  We also had to be on alert every time Ryan was near Jack.  Ryan just wanted to play with him but his play was so rough we had to be watchful and constantly remind Ryan to calm down.

We took the kids to the dentist this week and Ryan has four cavities.  We were shocked.  Ryan is so diligent at brushing his teeth and his diet is normally very good.  What we came to realize is that a great deal of the GF/CF food is high in sugar.  This is added to make the foods taste better and is something that we were not careful of watching with him.  So now we are being mindful of the sugar intake and also flossing is now recommended to help make sure he does not have any further cavities.

We also had an appointment with Dr. Cowan.  Ryan has not been to him in over a year and the doctor was surprised to see how far Ryan has come in that time.  He made good eye contact with the doctor when he shook his hand to say hello.  When the doctor called him over to the table we were at and it required Ryan to walk away from the train table, he did it without complaint.  Ryan even read for Dr. Cowan.  When the doctor stopped him half way through Ryan asked if he could finish reading the book to us.  Ryan sat down at the table with us and read the rest of the story.  Dr. Cowan was very impressed and was happy with his progress.

One area that Dr. Cowan wants us to focus on is labeling Ryan's emotions when he is having that emotion.  For example, when he is bored, he wants us to tell Ryan that this is what bored feels like and move on.  He feels that we need to help Ryan recognize his own emotions before he will be able to recognize those emotions in others. The other area is to start Ryan on a Phonics reading program.  Ryan is too literal in his letters and does not know the sounds that the letters make, especially when they are put together.  For example, sh.  Ryan reads the s sound and then the h sound.  He does not see them as one sound together.  He is doing much better with his reading but he is a little behind and we are afraid that the gap is only going to get bigger as the years progress.   Overall, it was a very good appointment.

We sometimes forget how far Ryan has come and it is nice to see others recognize that progress.  Through all the struggles that we have had with Ryan over the past three years, we sometimes forget to stop and take a look at how far he has come. One of the biggest reasons for Ryan's success is Dawn.  She has put so much time and effort into helping him that I do not know how she has the energy to keep going.  I know of many people that would have accepted the first neurologist's suggestion and brought their 3 year old to a pediatric psychiatrist to have them put them on medication.  I hope someday Ryan will realize just how much his mom has done for him and how much Dawn loves him.    

Pajama Day

Baking cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve with cousins

Christmas Eve with Nonna and Papa

Up at the crack of Dawn on Christmas morning.  So excited to play with his new DS from Santa!

A visit from Santa on Christmas Day.  He brought gifts for all of the kids, and Jack got his two bottom teeth!

Nonna replaced the ornament that Ryan broke a few weeks back.  He was so happy.

A basketball hoop from Uncle T!

Lots of outdoor play in the snow this week!

Wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year.

PC

Week 140- Trying to Process the Sandy Hook Tragedy

My heart continues to ache for the lives lost in Newtown, CT.  To send your children off to school and not have them return home is beyond my comprehension.  I can't imagine what those parents are going through, and what those kids must have felt.  Being a teacher, having a 6 year old child, and having a child with Autism has this tragedy hitting me on all sorts of levels.  Regarding the Autism, some jumped to conclusions about the shooter and blamed an Autism Spectrum Disorder as the cause for his actions.  This is terrible.  It will send all sorts of wrong messages to others out there that being on the spectrum is related to violent behaviors and careless tendencies.  This isn't the case with my Ryan.  He gets very upset when someone is hurt either physically or emotionally.  And as far as his desire to play "rough", he sometimes does, but no more so than what I see from other kids his age.  And as a teacher I have seen violent tendencies with some children on the spectrum, but also with typical adolescents as well. 

So whom, or what, do we blame for this tragedy?  We have to blame something, correct?  Because if we can blame it on something we then have answers to why this happened, and then we can have closure.  Placing blame absolves any feelings of guilt we may have that we could have prevented this.  It makes us feel better because we can work on fixing what the problem is so that it doesn't happen again.  Placing blame allows us to move forward.  Right?  Wrong!  Especially when society can't agree.  We're quick to blame the shooter's parents.  Political folks, the same ones who spent months before the Presidential election arguing back and forth with their friends on Facebook, are having a field day arguing over gun control issues. There are some who blame ASD (and I don't believe it has been confirmed that the shooter was ever diagnosed with Autism), and others who blame mental illness and have jumped on the healthcare bandwagon.  Others blame the sensationalism of the media.  And others blame lack of school security and training of teachers (some even suggest that teachers be allowed to carry firearms!).  The day that happens will be my last day as a teacher to the public and my first day as a teacher to my own children as I home school them.

While families of the victims struggle to move forward, we as a society do not have answers.  School shootings and violence, including bullying and child suicide, are on the rise.  We didn't have these sort of problems fifty years ago, not to the extent we do today.  Ironic thing is, many of us weren't around fifty years ago, or were just young children at the time.  So where is all of this coming from?  What's the problem?  WE are.  WE are the ones who have created the present day society we live in.  So WE better do something about it, and fast.  Needed are leaders who are serious about making changes.  But that alone is not going to do it.  WE need to do this.  WE need to make this a better world.  WE need to care!  WE need to teach our children that violence is not the answer.  WE need to teach compassion and humanity.  I have been reading about people completing 26 random acts of kindness to honor those lives lost in Sandy Hook Elementary.  That is a wonderful place to start, but I ask myself, "Why does it take a tragedy like this to occur to do a random act of kindness?  Why stop at 26?  And why do you need to announce everything you are doing for recognition?"

I've had a lot of thoughts about all of this building up inside, in spite of the crying I do everyday when I think about what happened and the suffering that continues to happen in this world.  Thank you for "listening" and allowing me an avenue to release.

In the midst of all of this sadness, we captured on video part of a dinner conversation we had on boyfriends/girlfriends, kissing, and getting married.  It gave us a good laugh at the time and continues to do so.  If you could use a good chuckle or need to smile, like I know I have needed, check out this video:  Talking about marriage...

And some happy photos...

Loving his new robe!

Jack is getting so big!

Ryan made a craft in religion class.

Ryan having fun with his new game.

Ryan checking to see if Jack has a tooth yet.  He is certainly drooling a lot!

We are ready for a wonderful holiday season.  Merry Christmas!

DC

Week 139 - RIP little angels

26 candles for the 26 new angels in Heaven... may you rest in peace

Our hearts go out to the families of those who lost their lives in the Sandy Hook Elementary Massacre. As the stories unfold, never have I been more afraid and more proud to be a teacher.

DC

Week 138

Another bus incident.  This time no kids involved, or at least I don't think anyone else was involved.  As is our usual routine, the kids brought me their backpacks and we went through them when they arrived home from school.  Here is what I found in Ryan's bag:

Yes, that is a seat belt buckle from the bus.  Ryan said he found it on the bus.  The next morning I made him return it to the driver.  I don't know any more about how he got the buckle, but he returned it and we left it at that. We need to choose our battles with Ryan, and this seemed so minute compared to other conversations we had to have with him this week about being bossy with other kids at school.  He gets very upset when kids do not do things that he wants them to do.

Speaking of "taking things", the seat belt buckle was not the only thing that made its way home with Ryan this week.  On Thursday I needed to bring Jack to the ENT.  Phil was in class during the appointment time so I had to bring all three kids with me.  Ryan and Julia were being good considering it was a long wait in the office because we were an emergency double booked appointment, and then they had to sit in the doctor's office and watch Jack scream as the doctor performed a nasal endoscopy on him (Ryan covering his ears the whole time, of course).  Ryan and Julia kept asking the doctor if he was going to hurt Jack.  They were very concerned about their brother and wanted to make sure he didn't get any needles.  The doctor was impressed with their maturity and patience, and said that the kids were being so well behaved that they could go in the hallway and choose a prize from the prize box. The nurse met them at the prize box and Ryan asked how many toys they could pick.  She told them one each, and they returned back to the room...Ryan with a toy car and Julia with a slinky.  Later on that night when the kids were putting on their pajamas, Ryan pulls out two more cars from his pants pocket.  He had taken three items and hid the other two from everyone. Phil and I were mortified and really laid it on thick about how that was stealing and wrong.  Had it not been past their bedtime and we didn't live 25 minutes from the doctor's office I would have had him bring all three cars back that night.  We took them away from him and told him that next time he will be bringing them all back and apologizing for what he did.  Ryan is such a rule follower.  I was so surprised that after the nurse told him one prize that he continued to take more than one.  This coming from the boy who just a little while before that scolded a patient sitting in the waiting room for eating snacks when there was a sign on the wall, clear as day, saying no food or drinks in the waiting room.  After we spoke with him it seemed like he was truly sorry for what he did.

On Friday night the kids' school held a Penny Social.  All week there must have been announcements at school because Ryan would come home every day talking about how we have to bring money with us to buy tickets to win prizes at the Penny Social.  And everyday I would tell Ryan that he has gymnastics Friday night and we would not be going to the Penny Social.  It was as if we were trapped in the movie Rain Man all week.  He kept harping on it over and over and over.  Remember in Rain Man when The People's Court was about to begin and Ray was trapped in a car and they had to pull over to a stranger's house to watch the episode?  Ryan came home from school on Friday and when we began to get ready for gymnastics and not the Penny Social, all hell broke loose.  Want to guess who went to the Penny Social after gymnastics??? 

Now on to the good stuff... Ryan and Phil went out and bought a tree today.  Ryan was so excited.  Phil and I didn't really want to go through the trouble of getting another tree (we already have an artificial one up in our family room).  I knew Ryan was looking forward to decorating it, so I posed a question to him and let him decide.  I asked him if he wanted to play video games or do the tree.  He chose the tree.  For him to pass up an opportunity to play a video game solidified to us how important the tree was to him.  And afterwards, we were glad we did it.  (I'm sure if you ask me when it is time to take it down, we may change our minds!)

Jack in front of his first real Christmas tree!

Ryan helping to hang the first ornament on the tree.

Ryan after hanging his Autism puzzle piece ornament.

Unfortunately that smile was short-lived.  Soon after he dropped one of the ornaments and it shattered into a thousand pieces.  It was an ornament that my mom had bought for Phil and I for our first Christmas.  On it was an Irish prayer and it went with one that had an Italian prayer on it.  Ryan grabbed both of them, in an attempt to keep them away from Julia and put both of them up himself, and while trying to hang one he dropped the other.  He immediately began to cry.  He said he was going to miss the ornament.  After some coaxing we got him to join us in hanging ornaments again, and of course he blamed Julia for him dropping the ornament.  But the rest of the decorating went smoothly and another memory was made.

DC

Week 137

Getting into the Christmas spirit...

I asked the kids what we should buy daddy for Christmas, and here are the responses I got:
Ryan: "How about some good children." (Pretty clever answer and funny!)
Julia: "Medicine in case he gets sick." (In case you forgot, Phil spent Christmas and several days in January in the hospital last year because of kidney stones, so this is also a clever answer!)

Even with Andy, our Elf on the Shelf, visiting us daily, the kids are having a difficult time behaving themselves.  They are in constant competition and get disappointed if they don't get to do something first, especially when it involves Jack.  They actually fight with each other about who Jack should be sitting closer to.  While it is sweet that they want to be near their brother, rather than get physical with each other if they stopped a minute to think about it, they can put Jack in the middle and both be happy.  And that would make Jack super happy.  There have also been some issues with Ryan at school.  After two "Outstanding" days at school last week, this past week we received a note home from Ryan's teacher about his behavior at lunch.  He is arguing with another boy about who gets to sit near a boy in their class.  Seriously such petty stuff.  Ryan gets upset when he doesn't get his way, and when he does, he tends to show off and hurt others' feelings. We had a long talk with him about this during the week after we received the note, and also over the weekend several times when he had mini meltdowns at the two birthday parties we went to.

In the midst of difficult behavior, we had some great moments too.  Here are some pictures of the kids in front of the Barbie ornament tree in our family room.  We spent an hour hanging out together, listening to music, dancing, and playing.  And we did a lot of laughing. It was really nice to put everything else aside and spend some quality time together. 

Three smiles!

This is what I got when I asked them what face they would make if they got coal in their stocking.  I posted this on Facebook and it was a big hit.  Lots of people are saying we should use this as our Christmas card picture, but we've had ours printed a few weeks ago.

Wrestling with daddy.

Ryan posing with Mickey Mouse at a birthday party over the weekend.

Ryan received an early Christmas present from my aunt in Virginia.  It is a bank that registers the amount of money when coins are dropped in it.  Ryan loved it and carried it around with him at the birthday party.  Guests kept giving him coins to put in it.  He came home with about $9 in change.

Ryan still holding the coin jar!  He walked around with it most of the night.

There was a clown at the birthday party we went to on Saturday and he had volunteers go up and try to do the hula hoop.  Ryan was eager to try, which surprised us.  There were over 50 people there and he wasn't hesitant at all to get up and try.  We were so proud of him and everyone clapped for him for trying.  Here's the video of his attempt; you can tell he was having so much fun:  Ryan Hula Hoop


Ryan did a good job at both parties sticking to his diet.  He wasn't perfect, but he was having so much fun playing that it didn't seem to bother him.  One of the things he cheated with was tasting eggplant parmigiana.  When going through the buffet line he insisted that he liked it.  It is not something he is supposed to have but Phil figured he would let him try it.  He got back to the table and tried it.  Needless to say it was the only thing left on his plate at the end of the night.  But kudos for trying something new!  

A friend of mine posted this article on Facebook and I found it interesting.  It's called "7 Things You Don't Know About A Special Needs Parent".  Here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-lin/special-needs-parenting_b_1314348.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
 
The kids, especially Julia, love to dance.  And when they start, Jack wants to join in.  Here's a video of them dancing to one of their favorite songs:  Dancing to Gangnam Style

I forgot to mention this last week so I will share now.  One morning when the bus pulled up Ryan said that the number was different.  And indeed it was.  The bus looked exactly the same but the number was one digit off.  He got on the bus and said something to the bus driver and he replied that they had given him a new bus that morning.  Each morning since then Ryan comments about how the bus number is different.  I sometimes forget how observant Ryan is and what a good memory he has.

DC

Week 136

Thanksgiving.

This was another good week for Ryan.  Actually, it was an Outstanding Week for Ryan.  He only had school on Monday and Tuesday and for both days he came home with Outstanding certificates.  We could not have been happier with Ryan at school and I am glad to see that his teachers recognize his effort.

On Wednesday we had Aunt Anne, Uncle Chris, Megan, and Kate come in from Pittsburgh, PA as well as Grandma.  We are not going to see the Pittsburgh crew for Christmas so we exchanged presents on this trip.  One of the presents Ryan received was a small Cars Lego set.  He sat down and put the entire set together with very little help.  He sat down at the kitchen table and followed the directions.  He did a great job putting the set together.

On Thanksgiving day, we packed up and went to Nonna and Papa's house.  All the cousins had a great time playing together.  Ryan even participated in a small performance for all the adults in his Thanksgiving hat.

On Saturday, we had a baby shower to attend at Aunt Marg and Uncle Jim's house.  Phil's cousin is pregnant and instead of a traditional baby shower they decided to make it an after Thanksgiving family gathering.   Our only reservation about going to the party was the dogs.  They have two dogs.  Aunt Marg texted Dawn pictures of the dogs and we had been preparing Ryan for them.  For those that have forgotten, Ryan is afraid of dogs and wants to know when we go to a new house if they have a dog.  Aunt Marg and Uncle Jim kept the dogs outside and Ryan even ventured outside to throw the dog toys to the dogs.  Granted, he stayed behind the invisible fence so the dogs could not get to him but he did have fun throwing the toys to the dogs.  They also had a room set aside for all the kids to play in and both Ryan and Julia spent most of the time in this room playing.  During this party we learned that Ryan has a new skill.  He learned how to open a soda can and when he was finished he crushed it with one hand!  He told me that when you finish a can you had to crush it!  When I asked him where he learned that from he told me TV.  Not to be left out, Ryan shared his new found knowledge with his sister who was very happy to learn how to open a soda can.

Jack turned four months this week!

On Sunday, we decided to get a jump on decorating for the Christmas season.  The kids were very excited to help decorate the Barbie tree.  Dawn has been collecting Barbie ornaments for years and now has enough to fill a whole tree.  We also welcomed back our Elf on the Shelf, Andy (named after Andy from Toy Story).  We have caught Ryan going up and talking to Andy quietly about what he wants for Christmas.  It is very cute.  They are all very excited for the Christmas season!

PC