Today
is Spencer's 4th birthday. I can't believe it, time has been flying
lately. We aren't celebrating his birthday until Monday, because I work
12 hour shifts back to back on the weekends and I just don't have the
time to get his cake, presents and still get enough sleep. Plus I'm
going to donate plasma on Monday so I'll have more money to spend on
him. David's sister will watch the kids while we do that, then we'll all
go and pick out his cake, let him pick out his gifts (David's sister
wants to get him something too), then go home, and celebrate. Sounds
like a good plan to me.
School started for Spencer a couple weeks
ago. This year I made David go shopping with me. He actually asked me,
"Can't we just go to the Dollar Tree and get everything?" Umm
no, dear. I'm pretty sure if you could find decent quality school
supplies at Dollar Tree then parents would be flocking there in droves.
We went to Wal-Mart and bought all his supplies, plus a new pair of
shoes and some stuff for the house. We still spent less than $100 for
everything, so we didn't do bad at all.
After that we had to go
clothes shopping. Spencer outgrew everything this summer which I was
expecting. He had very few short sleeve shirts that fit. So we hit up
the clearance racks at Wal-Mart and Target. He got a new package of
socks, shoes, 7 short sleeved shirts ($3.50 on clearance), 2 long
sleeved shirts and a hoodie. I plan on doing a big shopping trip at the
end of the month to get all of the kids new fall and winter clothes.
Since Spencer has started school, it's been a huge clusterfuck of stupidity. Let me regale you with those tales.
The
day before school started Spencer's teacher called. She asked if we
knew that Spencer had been transferred to a different bus in the
mornings. Nope we didn't, no one bothered to contact us. She was
concerned because the preschoolers have to ride a preschool only bus and
it has to have harnesses and she wasn't sure if that bus was or not.
She tried to call the transportation department, but couldn't get ahold
of them (big surprise there!), so she asked us to contact them. Ok so we
did that and found out that yes the bus was for preschoolers only and
did have harnesses.
So the first day of school Spencer and I get
up at 7, because the bus was supposed to pick him up at 8:05. We went
outside to wait at 8, and waited and waited some more. The bus finally
showed up at 8:25. The bus driver apologized for being late and said he
was trying to work out the kinks in the route and our pick-up time would
probably be around 8:10. Ok understandable and not a huge deal.
That
afternoon the bus was supposed to drop Spencer off at 12:15, so I went
outside to wait. At 12:45 the bus still had not arrived yet, so I called
the transportation department. I explained the situation and they
transferred me to someone else, who wasn't in the office and I wound up
reaching their voicemail (So helpful right?). I called the
transportation department back again, and the line was busy. So I just
decided to call the school directly. I called the school and the woman
who answered told me that my son was taken back to school because no one
was outside to get him off the bus. I told her I was outside 5 minutes
before the scheduled arrival time and that several buses had been down
our street but none had stopped at our house. She told me that it was
something I'd have to work out with the bus driver and transportation
department then lectured me on the drop off procedure. Then she ended
the conversation by saying I could pick up my son Joe at school. I told
her my son's name was NOT Joe. Then she finally decides to ask what my
son's name is, I tell her and she tells me that oh he's still on the
bus. Now why the hell didn't she ask me my child's name to begin with
instead of just assuming that I'm an irresponsible parent who's
incapable of getting my own kid off the bus? It would've saved us both a lot of time and conversation. The bus finally showed up at 1:05.
The
next day I got another call from the teacher. She said that one of his
forms was missing. I told her that I filled out all the paperwork she
gave us, then put in a manila envelope in his backpack. She goes through
it and still can't find it so she said she'd send home another copy.
That day when Spencer gets home there's a white envelope stuffed with
papers in his bag. I opened it and there was a letter from the nurse
informing us that our child needed to have a physical, dental visit, and
updated shot records and they included all the forms. The only problem
with that is we sent all those forms to school with him, and informed
the teacher of this, who agreed to bring them to the nurse. So I called
and asked to speak with the nurse. The nurse looked and couldn't even
find his file. She went hunting for it, eventually found it and called
us back saying he had all the forms he needed but two that we were never
given. We did receive the forms the next day, filled them out and
returned them, so hopefully that is the end of that.
Then last
week we received an e-mail from the teacher about a toileting training
group that we might be interested in participating in. She attached all
the forms, and I looked the over and noticed that it was for a different
county than we live in. I figured maybe the teacher knew more than we
did and maybe we could participate anyway, despite living in a different
county. So I filled everything out and sent it back into school, only
to be told that we aren't eligible because we don't live in that county
and she was emailed the wrong information. She's going to do some
searching and see if there's a group in our county. I really hope there
is because I'd like to get started on toilet training Spencer (and
Vivian at the same time) and this group sounds really informative and
helpful. So fingers crossed that there is a toilet training group in our
county, otherwise I'm going to be disappointed.
During the
middle of the week, we had a worker come to our house and tell us they
were completely tearing up the sidewalk and tearing the curb out and
putting a new one in. He told us we weren't allowed to park in our
driveway until it was done. I told him that Spencer's bus picks him up
right in front of our house and would they still be able to while the
construction was going on. He said it shouldn't be a problem and they'd
just lay down some plywood for us to walk over. So on Thursday they
started the construction (at 6 freaking AM). Spencer and I went out to
wait on the bus, and stood out there waiting. I went inside to check the
clock and noticed it was running 10 minutes late. So I called the
transportation department. They told me the construction crew refused to
let them go down our street so they sent the bus to another street, and
tried to call to let us know but didn't have a working phone number for
them. I have no idea how that managed to happen because I filled out a
million forms and our correct phone number is on all of them. So I gave
them our phone number again. Then I called the
school to find out what was up with that. The school blamed it all on
the computers and said they've been having problems with their computer
program and systems. So I gave them our number
again, hopefully they get this resolved soon. David wound up driving
Spencer in that day, then he picked him up on the side street. No idea
how long this is going to go on but I hope it's done soon.
Anyway
school problems aside things have been going pretty well. Spencer had
his doctor's appointment and is 3 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 33lbs.
He's still on the small side for his age but not enough for them to be
concerned. Over the summer he was talking less (he still can he's just
being quieter than normal). Since school has started he's been talking
more. Since I have a better work schedule we're going to try and get him
back into speech therapy, and have him evaluated at Cincinnati
Children's Hospital again. I think they will diagnose him with Autism
and that is something we're fine with. Really the only areas affected
are his speech and motor skills. Plus they have a big Autism center at
the hospital and they might be able to help us find more programs,
groups, classes and resources to help us help him which is a good thing.
Plus I'm hoping we can network with other parents and pick their brains
and make some new friends.
Vivian is also doing really well.
She's 2 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 27lbs. She turned 2 on July 30th.
Davd's sister bought her a cake, then we bought her a Fisher Price Laugh
and Learn House (it was $4 at the thrift store), a teddy bear, stuffed
dog that she latched onto at Wal-Mart, a water bottle, and a pair of
sunglasses. She really loves stuffed animals and if we let her pick a
toy at the store that's what she goes for. Her favorite is dogs and
teddy bears (I think because Peppa Pig has one). She has started talking
a lot more recently. She knows all of her body parts and we taught her
cheeks, chin, shoulders and knees. She's starting to express an interest
in what she wears. We let her pick out her own clothes in the morning
and she has 2 blue dresses that she loves to wear. She asks for them
every day. She still loves to point at everything and tell us what it
is. We're working on teaching her sounds right now she knows, dog, cat,
monkey, pig and car. She's talking a lot and really starting to put
sentences together. She also loves to do flashcards with Spencer and us
and she loves having us tell her what things are. She's also starting
to show an interest in scribbling after I let her play with my app. Now
she asks us to draw and we either give her the tablet or give her paper
and crayons and let her entertain herself. T
he one thing we're
having problems with is her attitude and temper, but that's pretty
normal at 2. When she gets mad at us she likes to go to her room and
slam the door, it's gotten to the point that we lock her out of her room
so she can't do it. A lot of the time though she'll just throw a fit
right in front of us and get progressively louder. We used to do
time-outs on the loveseat but since she just increases the volume we
make her go to her room to throw a fit, and tell her she can come out
when she's ready to act nice. Then once she's calmed down one of us gets
her and we have her say I'm sorry, then she's usually ready to be good.
Another thing she's started doing is stalling at bedtime. She'll say
Mommy and when I ask what she just repeats it. Or she throws her stuffed
animals out of bed then cries because she doesn't have them. We've
learned to just ignore her stalling tactics we put her in bed, give her a
kiss, say Good night, love you, then close the door. She was throwing a
huge fit about it but lately she seems to have accepted it and just
repeats it back then falls asleep quietly, so we're slowly but surely
making progress.
Grant
is also doing really well, he is now 6 months old. I don't remember his
weight or height (bad Mommy I know). He's known how to roll over for
quite some time but he doesn't like to do it very often. Usually if we
stick him somewhere he stays relatively close to that area, he doesn't
roll to get everywhere like the other two did. He has learned to say
Dada, and he also knows how to say Mama and Baba but rarely does. He's
also learning how to hold his bottle occasionally for short periods of
time. He's really hit a demanding phase lately though. He wants to be
held all the time. The swing, playmat and jumperoo only keep him
occupied for about 5 minutes. Sometimes we get
lucky and he goes for longer stretches but not lately, he's been extra
clingy. He's also been showing the signs of teething for quite awhile
but he still has no teeth. Everyone swears he's got to be getting teeth
in because he's always chewing on his hands and he drools like crazy,
but nope no teeth.
We started him on solid foods which he loves and has a huge appetite for.He's
starting to laugh but he does so reluctantly. When we tickle him he
tries so hard to fight it, and then when we do find something that makes
him giggle, we'll go to repeat it later and he won't laugh only smile.
His favorite family member is still Vivian, he
just beams whenever she gives him attention. She gives him hugs and
kisses. Spencer also likes to come over and talk to him, and they like
to play with each other by rolling a ball back and forth on his swing or
high chair tray.
So that's all that's been new with us and the kids. I'll update again after Spencer's little birthday celebration.
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