groundspeed

A 'Lil Pick-up Game

...of Duck Duck Goose at Tradition Field.  Daddy has a late flight (still not home) so we picnicked for dinner. I had to laugh that with Kaden, Blue and Toby playing, it was Toby who got picked first.  I yelled out that he just wanted to watch, pick someone else! Then, when Blue got picked he just took off running down the field instead of running around the circle.  Hmmmm.  I guess Blue doesn't know how to play Duck Duck Goose.  Gap in the childhood we'll have to work on.

Toby Talking

Toby is always pulling this blanket out of his bed, putting it over a toy, and saying, "Night, night!" Tonight was super cute because he crawled on the couch with Kaden (who was happily watching Wipe Out with Daddy) with his blanket and starting calling out, "Night, night!" and then snuggled into Kaden's side. 

Cute. But... he's been saying "night night" for a long time now. Here's what's new: these days he's labeling everything and will usually attempt at least one repeat of anything you ask him.  He's also mimicking more phrases. The cadence will be there. The pronunciation? Notsomuch.  The other day he held up a Buzz Lightyear toy and in his mind, I know he said, "To infinity and beyond!" But it came out Blahblahblahblah yond!" 

Another recent cute talking moment happened last night. I sang, "The B-I-B-L-E" and he shouted out "Bible!" at the end as he always does, and I said "Yay!" And then he threw his arms up in the air and said, "Did it!" 

When he finishes a cup of milk he shakes it and says, "empty."  Our first sign of adjectives!

He's been working on answering yes/no questions in speech.  If you ask him a yes/no question and he wants it he will just repeat the word or possibly do a chest rub (his version of the "please" sign) and say, "pea" and if the answer is "no" he'll probably just ignore you.  So, no, he hasn't come close to gaining this skill. BUT, last night I was reading with Kaden (Kenny and the Dragon - so far, cute book) and it mentioned an astronaut and I stopped and asked Kaden, "Do you want to be an astronaut?" And Toby must have heard that familiar, "Do you..." And he just looked at me and said, "No." I asked again and he said it again. So there you have it.  The boy CAN answer "no," and he is emphatic about NOT wanting to be an astronaut. 

As for speech therapy on his most recent test, his therapist said he scored 1 year 11 months.  (He's two years two months.) I'll be interested to see how this compares with what they saw in Chapel Hill (don't have that info yet.)

I have read about numerous FX kids who aren't verbal at all, and I know that as Toby ages the gap between where he's scoring and his age will likely widen. BUT... right NOW he's doing so well. So if you've ever heard Toby say, "Yay!!!!" (As he does a lot.) That's what you should be hearing in your mind right now.

DuBois Park

They say Dubois Park in Jupiter is the best place to take kids, but I'd also been forewarned it's insanely crowded on the weekends. This morning we decided to go early and brave it. We left the house at 8:20am, picked up my mom, and headed on down the Turnpike.

We got to the park/beach at 9am and all the picnic tables were already taken.  And the majority of people there didn't just have beach umbrellas - they had full-sized tents.  And in some cases, their own tables and chairs. People had clearly set up with the intention of staying all day.

As for us. I believe in packing light.  My mom? Not so much. So here was our little, but big for me, spot on the beach:

Dubois is an inlet beach. Winding waterways of mostly shallow water.  A perfect playground:

No waves for boogie boarding - it was just used for floating, as a kick board, or to pull each other around.

Checkin' out another kid's hermit crab collection.

And doing a little swimming too. Yes, it was mostly shallow romping grounds, but a few areas were deep enough that Kevin and I couldn't stand.

Fun morning! And one very tired Toby on the way home.

Love the pouty lip.

The verdict - Dubois is definitely worth the occasional trip south, but if you have to go on a weekend go early or late.  When we left at 11:30am, people were lined up waiting for our parking spot. And if possible, bring water shoes. A few sharp shell steps had me sorely missing the Tevas which sat most inconveniently in my closet at home.

The fun doesn't stop for Kevin, Kaden and Blue. Tonight they're off to a St. Lucie Mets game.

Beach and baseball - how's that for a boy's perfect summer day?

Fragile X Friday Links - National Fragile X Awareness Day

Today is Fragile X Awareness Day, so my first link is an article I wrote myself and put up on TCPalm:
Two is Tricky - Especially for St. Lucie Toddler with Fragile X

Go there and then post to your facebook wall!

Of course, others are posting as well...

Fragile X Files 

A Day at a Time

Basically FX

My father and uncle passed on their fragile X chromosome to their daughters.  A female first cousin is a carrier with a daughter with Fragile X. My half sister is a carrier with a son with Fragile X. There are other members of my father's family who have not been diagnosed but are suspected to be affected by Fragile X.  My cousin and half-sister are older than me and had already had their children and their children had been diagnosed and yet I DID NOT KNOW ANY OF THIS UNTIL MY EARLY TWENTIES!  But at least I knew. They didn't.

It was my sister-in-law, a nurse, who made the connection that if my nephew had Fragile X, I too should be tested. I researched Fragile X and knew I must be a carrier. Kevin and I talked about this before we got married and then shortly after we got married (in 2001) I did the genetic testing and counseling which confirmed what I already knew. 

We are so glad we knew.  That we began our family planning knowing.  We chose adoption, but if we had decided to "play the odds" at the beginning we knew, should we have a child with FX, what we needed to do to best meet his needs. We are so glad that when we were surprised by pregnancy we weren't surprised by Fragile X.

Be educated. Be aware!

Bit Lip

You just don't know what each week will bring.  

On Sunday when we had our family meeting I reminded Kaden he had horse camp this week and then jokingly told him not to break his arm. It's funny because last summer when Kaden went to horse camp I really worried because we didn't have any kind of health insurance at the time, but Kaden was totally fine all week. Blue, meanwhile, slipped at the playground that week earning himself an Urgent Care visit and 5 stitches in his chin.  

Kaden has gone to horse camp a few days over the holiday break and again during spring break.  No problems.  But summer horse camp seems to be jinxed for us. No broken arm, just a dog bite to the face and a chunk missing from his lip.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  Which is a good thing.  Believe me.

This happened sometime in the morning, but they just cleaned Kaden up, stuck a band aid on his face, and threw him on a horse for a trail ride.  

That's right. We weren't called.

So, Kevin picks up Kaden at 5pm takes one look at his face and doesn't take any time to chew anybody out, just takes Kaden to Urgent Care.  (Ah Urgent Care, with three boys - how we love thee...)  They cleaned him up and adhered Dermabond. (You can't stitch a missing chunk.)

A little before 8pm my boys finally got home. Kaden sat down to pizza and promptly lost the Dermabond. Meanwhile Kevin went back out to fill his antibiotic prescription. 

This am was round two...

Urgent Care opens at 8am so I arrived with Kaden while my mom stayed with Toby and Blue.  I wanted to know if the doc wanted to try again with the Dermabond. He didn't, but he did comment that I should tape record the impending confrontation at the camp. He'd love to hear that.  HA!

We got back home and I called a plastic surgeon.   

No, I wasn't suddenly in the mood for a tummy tuck. (If I could get through my teen years without getting my ears pinned, I think I will forever be able to resist plastic surgery.) At Urgent Care they referred a plastic surgeon for another opinion on Kaden's face. The plastic surgeon's office said they had nothing till late August and I was all prepared to take a late August appointment  and then get on facebook and see if anyone could recommend another plastic surgeon who might see us sooner, but while we're on the phone she realized they'd had a cancellation - could I come in ten minutes?  I say, it all depends on traffic and start hollering at kids to get on shoes as I'm still on the phone taking down directions.

My mom took Blue with her to drop him at his camp and I got Kaden and Toby and off to the plastic surgeon we went.  

The  plastic surgeon seemed annoyed Kaden wasn't seen by a doctor right away. Bacteria blah blah blah. Tell me about it, Doc. No need to fuel my fire when I still have a confrontation facing me. 

The verdict of this appointment was that we are to keep his dog created lip-hole wet with polysporin, like constantly.  We want to avoid scabbing. We are to come back in a few months and he'll see what he can do with the inevitable scar.

In the words of my MD brother-in-law, "Chicks. Dig. Scars."

I guess.

I hope.  

The thing about Kaden is that he's not particularly athletic and he seems to be missing the nerd gene. He's just an easy-going, well-natured boy who happens to be really good looking. (I don't think my pics do him justice, I've had people stop us in public before just to comment on his looks.) So I'm trying my best to usher him through childhood with this asset left intact!

And now you want to know about the camp confrontation, do you?

You've heard that between Kevin and me, I am the mean one, have you?  (This is totally true.)

After the plastic surgeon we went to horse camp. I wasn't planning on leaving Kaden. I want to give Kaden some healing time before he's back to roughing it up in the great outdoors. (Today has been movie day!) And I knew that whether or not Kaden would ever be going back would depend on how our conversation went. 

Here's how it went:  I said things like - it is ridiculous that I wasn't called, you made a terrible decision, it's a good thing I wasn't here yesterday because I was furious and believe me you are glad that I have had time to cool off... I told her we held her responsible and Kaden returning to camp was contingent upon her taking the right steps next and then I talked to her about the medical expenses we'd already accrued. To everything she nodded and said ok.  At the end I asked what she was thinking and she said she would do what she needed to do. With this response, second chance earned.

I told her we'll be back Monday and Kaden can do his remaining three days at the first half of next week and I'll have bills etc with me then.  

That's where it stands.

The dog will NOT be back at camp. 

Oh and if you start placing bets that on Monday Kaden falls off a horse and breaks his arm, I will find you and beat you up.

Feel Good Friday - Week in Review

So... no blogging this week.  But we had a number of things to feel good about so here's a recap:

*Blue started his first week of camp.  He'll be going three weeks and it's almost the same schedule as when he'll start VPK in August so, it's good practice! 

*Kaden didn't have anything going on, so he had to run around and be part of my usual routine.  Mixed into this though we went swimming Tuesday afternoon at his friend's house and then brought the friend home with us for the afternoon.

Of course even after being together 8 hours they were begging to spend the night at one or the other's house together. It didn't happen but I have a feeling that Kaden's first sleepover with a friend will take place before the summer is out.  At seven! Doesn't that seem a little young?  I can't remember my first sleepover. I do remember the first time my friend Michelle tried spending the night.  We had fun all evening and got up to the point where we were both in bed, but then she just couldn't do it and her parents had to come pick her up. I wish I could remember how old we were.

*Harry Potter!!!! If the final fall of evil Lord Voldemort isn't something to feel good about, what is? The kids are going to my mom's for two nights so tonight Kevin and I plan to re-watch Deathly Hallows Part One and then our tickets are bought to see Part Two tomorrow.  

*Did you catch that part about no kids for two nights. Oh yes - I feel good about that too!

*Making progress with a project I have going on for my niece's wedding present this October. Wish I could go into details but she sometimes reads this blog.

*This week I finished one terrific book (Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks) and started two more. (The Missional Mom by Helen Lee and The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson)

*Kaden and I finished a chapter book together (Julian's Glorious Summer by Ann Cameron). We alternated reading the chapters. Now he's reading Tornado by Betsy Byars out loud to me by himself. We've been averaging two to three chapters a day. He isn't thrilled about our little summer reading program, but he does it. Good enough, right?

*Sunday night I made the Spiced Peach-Carrot Bread from the July Southern Living so we had some yummy breakfasts at the beginning of the week. Look at those delicious lumps!

*Toby's new favorite phrase is "Come Here." It comes out, "Meeere," and I find it quite adorable.

*Some big-time progress with Blue. After the continuance of his defiant peeing issues he got re-kicked out of his bedroom in late May, but this week we let him back in his own bed. It's only been two nights but so far, so good!  (This is its own post, I know. I hope to write it soonish.)

Lots to feel good about this week and into the weekend. How about you?

Zonked

Toby fussed and played through his nap on Friday which was particularly a pain because we were having a couple who volunteer with MFI over for dinner and I use his nap time to cook. That, and without a nap, his mood worsens by dinnertime, so a little before 6pm as I'm wrapping up cooking Toby is at his grumpy-tired max pulling on me in the kitchen begging for bites, yelling at my feet. Hate that!  

So I send him to the couch and arm Kevin with a canister of raisins telling him to dole them out slowly and keep Toby away from me.  Toby ate awhile and then he scooted onto the floor and promptly fell asleep.

If you're already on the couch, why scoot to the floor?

Kids make no sense.  

But look at his legs - no more hives.  By the end of day 3, just as the doc said, they cleared up.  Day 2, meanwhile he looked SO SCARY I wanted to walk around with a sign that said, "He's not contagious." Glad that's behind us. Just wish we were certain what caused it so we could keep it from happening again.

Back to Friday night... He napped right in that spot through dinner then woke in a foul mood as we were finishing up.  I had to give him a bath and then put on a show before he was happy enough to eat his dinner. Then he ran around and played with his brothers while the grownups sat and talked.  For such an off-schedule day, we'll consider that mostly a success.

What's For Dinner?

Chicken salad sandwiches, tomato and blue cheese salad, and roasted zucchini

Sometime last week I came up with a new dinner I was pleased with - it seemed especially summery. I'm currently dieting so I had a very small portion of the chicken salad and didn't eat it as a sandwich, but that's my problem, you should eat it just as it's shown above. 

I don't measure when I make chicken salad but here's more or less what I did:

I used about 2/3rds of a whole roasted chicken I'd cooked and cut up the day before, 2 heaping gobs of mayo (like those measurements?), about half a peeled green apple, two hard boiled eggs, about half a teaspoon of curry (a little curry goes a long way.) Mix ingredients. There ya go.

The salad:
You'll need: 1 pint cherry tomats, 1/2 pint grape tomats, 1/2 cup of blue cheese (Except I used feta because I had a lot of feta in my fridge I needed to use up. But since then I've made the salad again with blue cheese - both are yummy.), 1 small red onion, 1 head of bibb or butter lettuce torn into small pieces (my grocery store didn't have either, can't remember what kind of lettuce I bought), 1 shallot peeled and cut into quarters, 20 basil leaves, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Cut tomats in half and place in bowl, add cheese, onions and lettuce.

In a blender combine shallots, basil, mustard, vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Turn on blender then pour in olive oil.

When ready to serve stir the dressing and toss into salad. In our house this was a hit and got ALL eaten.

Zucchini:
No, my kids aren't thrilled with zucchini as a side, but yes, they eat it.

You'll need: three zucchini cut into 1 inch slices, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, 2 large garlic gloves, about 20 large basil leaves.

(after adding the garlic but before tossing and sticking back in)

Preheat oven to 450. Arrange zucchini on baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and add garlic, toss, and continue to roast another 5 minutes. Once roasted transfer to serving bowl and toss with chopped basil.

If you've had any fun summery dinners I should put on my menu, consider yourself blog-tagged! Add the link to your post in my comments. Thanks!

Baseball Camp

Today wraps up a three-day baseball camp for Kaden at Digital Domain stadium with the St. Lucie Mets. There ended up being three other boys from his coach pitch team, so he liked knowing some kids there. He's in the youngest group, but they divide up by age and then rotate from activity to activity (batting practice, sliding practice, pitching, wiffle ball, etc.) on the half hour. But the first half hour everyone was on the field together for warm ups.

Parents can sit in the stands and watch as long as they want, but since I have two other little rug rats with their own agendas we've pretty much just dropped Kaden and left.

VBS, Environmental Science Camp, Tampa July 4th trip, and now baseball camp. Next week when Blue has camp at his school and Kaden has off, Kaden's not going to know what to do with himself.

Hives

All over Toby's body :-(

This Nurse Mom learned something yesterday. You can hate eaten fish, shrimp, and lobster and then still have a reaction when you finally eat crab. At least we think Toby got hives from crab we had for dinner on Tuesday night. I didn't see anything when I was giving him bath after that dinner, but by the time we were reading books I noticed some bumps on his leg I took for bug bites... but then in the morning - yikes! My poor baby. I didn't even know what hives were. This is my first kiddo to go through it, so I called the doctor and the nurse suggested hives and Benadryl to help. I scheduled an appointment for later in the day which confirmed the hives theory and we're sticking with just Benadryl unless he starts swelling and then she prescribed a steroid. And we're going with the crab theory unless he starts with other symptoms and then the new theory is that he has a virus and the hives were just the first symptom. 

Who needs med school when you've got kids, right?

The good news is that he's acting totally normal, not even scratching. The bad news is that it'll take a good three days for them to go away. This is depressing because every time I look at him I want to cry.

There is just no such thing as normal around here. 

P.S. I typed this post last night. This Thurs. am he's worse. Puffy hands and slightly swollen eyes along with more hives on his neck and face. Looks like we'll be getting that steroid today.