I've had it with my kid being ganged up on! Monkey has had at least one bully every year he's been in school, and this year it has gotten to the point of several kids ganging up on him. He's been telling me that four boys have been choking him, and punching him, and when he went to tell the teacher, they would block him and threaten him that they'd hurt him even worse if he told. AND bribing him! He said that one offered him a bakugan for not telling, another some other toy, and that's just ridiculous! He was to the point of not wanting to tell me because I wanted to know details to tell him principal.
Well, I can't just stand by, so I called his principal on Wednesday after work, and she called each of the four boys into her office. We thought the problem was solved, but on Thursday, five other boys were on him!
The story was that Monkey was digging a moat for their fort, when they decided they didn't want him to. One kicked snow in his face, and when Monkey went to tell the teacher, they all chased him and tried to jump on him. The first one missed, but the second one got him so they all dog piled on top of him. When they finally got off and Monkey was getting up, they took turns punching him in the back! Finally he got to the teacher and they had to stand on the wall. Hardly a severe enough punishment.
I marched him into the Principal's office to tell her what had happened and Matt got a call yesterday that they each had it marked on their permanent records, and had consequences at school. I hope this is the end of it and that things don't get worse because I'm standing up for my kid!
What a lucky kid! From us, he got a bullet bill (Super Mario) t-shirt, a new gui top, and tickets to Medieval Times (details to follow). From Aunt Fiona and Uncle Andrew he got three bionicles. From Uncle Mike and Aunt Ni-cool he got a ninja motorcycle and King Kong cartoon show. From Grandma and Grandpa Ross he got Mario at the Olympics for Wii. From Grandpa and Grandma Susan he got a trip bowling and a bit of money. Finally, from Nanny and Papa, he got a IOU for some heeleys and new snowpants and a card with some moula from Uncle Drew! Uncle Jason and Aunt Amanda sent him a gift (the lego set right?) with the Christmas bundle too! What a lucky kid!
And the details for Medieval Times!...
I picked Monkey up at 1pm from school on Friday, Feb 5 so we could get in the car and head off to Nanny and Papa's (I had a delightful class that morning by the way!). We got off on schedule and Kanga settled in nicely! As soon as daddy arrived, we were off to Toronto! We took the 403 for the first time, and it was a rather simple drive!
Once we found our parking, we realized we were only a few metres from the entrance! Score! Walked right in, no lines as we were nice and early. ;) We got our yellow knight passes for table 4 and in to the castle we went!
We got Monkey a foam sword and shield right off the bat, and paid for his birthday knighting. That meant that he got a little ceremony, his picture, and his name announced with his birthday in the event! Pretty cool for $20! That was all done by about 6:30 though, and the show wasn't until 7. We wandered around, and went through the dungeon of torture. Not really a Monkey appropriate show!
Time passed quickly enough though, and before we knew it, we were listening to the master of ceremonies introduce the story, and in we went! Yellow got to go first! :) We were seated in the second row, and right at the centre back of the auditorium. I thought it was great! Soon we were being served our soup, and we bought Monkey a yellow flag to cheer for our knight.
We ate tomato soup, roasted chicken (1/2), a rib, 1/2 a roasted potato, and a slice of garlic bread. It was all eaten with our hands and we loved it! For dessert we had an apple pastry, and Monkey's had a candle in it. The show was great, and our knight was very skilled. I won't tell you the story though, you can go see for yourselves! ;)
After the show, and all through it, Monkey kept saying "This is the best birthday ever!" He loved it! Hooray! Once the show was over, Monkey bought a t-shirt and a dvd. He also got the yellow knight to sign his flag. All the characters were standing around the bar to chat and sign things. It was cool!
We headed out and on to Fiona's around 10, and had a nice visit before heading off to bed. In the morning, Andrew and Fiona made us a huge birthday breakfast and had cupcakes too. Monkey thought it was great! After wards, they took us all to Zellers for Monkey to choose a birthday gift (the 3 bionicles mentioned above), and then it was off to Nanny and Papa's to have a birthday lunch and get Kanga!
From the updates, we knew that she had slept well, and all night! I wasn't concerned a bit! Then we found out that our poor little girl had been sick a couple times and needed her bed changed, and a bath to wash out her hair! Poor thing! Nanny didn't want to worry us, and she hadn't had a fever, so Nanny and Uncle Drew took care of her and made her feel better. Luckily she was over that bit of flu quickly! Still not very hungry for the next couple of days, but happy and not throwing up!
We had a light lunch as we got in a bit late, and then had burgers and fries for supper. Monkey was getting tired, and time was flying, so we headed out after a home made cake.
Yesterday (Feb 13) dad and Susan came to take us bowling. We went to Fleetway, which has an attached Dairy Queen, so we had lunch and then hit the lanes! We all did quite well and had a blast! Monkey broke a hundred for the first time, and yes we love the bumpers. ;)
So, I promised some pics of Kanga in her new mitts and of the fort we built! Here ya go. Monkey and Kanga in our rebuilt fort.
The Original Melting
Kanga crawling into the freshly rebuilt fort, and Kanga breaking the freshly rebuilt fort. Monkey wasn't too happy, but I had to laugh! She had watched Monkey and I crash through the melting fort and thought she should try it too! Clearly her new mitts were working! She had such a riot in the fort that day that I had to stay out with her a little extra! We went for a walk to the end of the sidewalk, and then I threw her in the snowbanks a few times. She thought that was the greatest!
We also now have an orange belt in the family. Monkey progressed through the 10 little dragon belts (red, yellow, orange, gold, purple, green, blue, brown, black, black 1st dan) and then joined the black dragon class at the yellow rank in September (skipped red and red advanced due to completing the little dragon program). He chose to take the summer off to try gymnastics, and then went right back to the karate training when school began.
Monkey has been doing very well at school since returning after winter holidays too. His communication book has had little but good comments! :)
And on to illness...Kanga yet again had a bout of bronchitis. Last weekend (January 15,16,17) she started to get a cough. When she gets a cough it tends to quickly get into her chest, and by Monday it sounded like it was going that way, so I took the morning off of volunteering to take her into the walk-in clinic. We were in and out fast enough, but the doctor wasn't very helpful. He asked what was wrong, and I said that she had a cough, and having had bronchitis two times since her birthday (late May early June and in September) I was concerned that it would quickly turn that way again. He said that bronchitis is over diagnosed, and that any chest congested cough is bronchitis. Okay, fine. He told me to just call it a chest cold and not call it bronchitis. Okay, fine. He told me my little girl was fine and not to worry about it. Uh, no.
Home we went, momma unhappy, baby still coughing and her inhaler not doing a whole lot as far as I could tell.
Tuesday I kept her home too, as she was still not better and we'd been up all night between her coughing and just being miserable. I got the vaporizer out at 2:30 and she felt well enough to fall asleep around 4:00. We got a whole 2 1/2 hours of sleep! Yay!
Tuesday night, listening to my poor baby, I decided that if we were up all night again I would be taking her back to the walk-in to get another doctor to take a look at her.
Indeed we were up all night once again, and I had the vaporizer going an hour before bed to make sure the air was moist, got her risers under her crib legs to get an angle so she could get to sleep, and alas! My poor baby couldn't sleep until about 5:30 when she was just too exhausted to keep her eyes open any longer!
Wednesday morning we dropped of Monkey and in we went to have Kanga looked at again. We got the doctor who did her follow-up in June (and prescribed the inhaler after the liquid Ventolin was a pain in the ...) and she was not impressed. She saw Kanga in the waiting room on Monday and assumed she'd been looked after. When she saw my baby she said who let you get so sick! I told her that I brought her in on Monday and the doctor had said she was fine. She looked at the chart and said she'd be speaking with him. Nice.
She then listened to me and my concerns, including that Matt had strep throat on the weekend and that the other doctor hadn't looked in her mouth. Poor Kanga's throat was red and tonsils swollen, her airway was very congested, and she told me that if Kanga started wheezing at all to get her straight to the emergency room... She prescribed her some antibiotic for her bronchitis, potential tonsillitis, and said that if there was an ear infection rather than bothering Kanga more by probing, the antibiotic would wipe that out too. As she hadn't had any fever, I doubt she had an ear infection, but she's all cleared out now!
Anyway, my baby was on antibiotic every 8hrs (so a dose at 2:30 with Monkey's potty break), Ventolin (her inhaler) every 4hrs, and Tylenol for her throat every 4hrs. I gave her Tylenol before we left (I'd given her Ventolin at 7:30 so it wasn't time yet) and we were off to Shoppers! I also needed to get her the bigger AeroChamber spacer as her baby one from a few months ago is too small!
A week later, and she is MUCH better. All that 1st doctor had to do was give her a script so she didn't get so bad. She has a history, we know what is going to happen, and yes, the A word (asthma) was brought up again. Matt doesn't think she has asthma, as he sees kids with the condition all the time, but we will find out either way and it doesn't matter one bit to me. It is a lot more controllable now then it used to be, so she won't be limited if she does have it, and it would seem that it is a seasonal when sick thing for her anyway!
If I missed anything in the title, then sorry, but it has been a while again!
1. Work:
I have had a relatively consistent work load since getting that call October 19th-ish. I get at least two days of work a week, and have met a wonderful teacher who calls me in regularly. For professional, student safety, and privacy reasons I can't disclose any names or locations, but I really enjoy his grade 8s. They're a great bunch of kids who strive to achieve rather than slumping off their work! It's great!
2. Earrings:
Ms. Kanga has learned to take them out. This started in September, and wasn't really an issue. I'd just put them back in and we'd be fine. About a month ago, I believed she'd eaten one. I found her earringless and one chewed. I could not for the life of her find the other. I got some gloves, fed her plenty of prunes (which she eats like candy) and off we went. Several movements later I had still not found it and concluded she must not have eaten it, but mentioned it to the dr at her 18mos checkup anyway. We came home with an x-ray req and that night while changing Monkey's sheets I found the missing earring! YAY!
She still takes them out, but I now know she's not going to eat them, and more often than not she hands them to me. Sometimes I am missing a back, but for now she's wearing a cleaned up pair of my old studs that are quite difficult to take out. I'm looking into getting her some labret studs (flat back and screw on ball) so she can still have her pretties but I don't have to worry about her taking them out! ;)
Yule:
As many of you know, I am a practicing pagan of the Correllian Nativist Tradition. That being said, Yule is the time of year when we mark the changing of the seasons. The Old God Cerunous, passes into the dark, and the Mother Goddess gives birth to the Young God. For this reason, the colours of white (Maiden Goddess and birth) and red (Mother Goddess) are used to decorate the Yule tree and domicile.
I also purchased our first live Yule tree this year. Unfortunately it will not fit my master plan. I started out on a 10 year plan of purchasing one young potted Yule tree per year for 10 years (to start with). In the spring, the tree will be planted with the ashes of the previous year's Yule log to fertilize it. After 10 years, the tree should be of appropriate height to be harvested and light our home to repeat the cycle. Well, I didn't notice that the Alberta Spruce I bought was a dwarf. This means that it grows exceptionally slow (about 2"/year) and will never be more than 6". That might be tall enough if I can get under it right to the ground to harvest, but we will see! 2"x10yrs is 20" on top of the already 20" in height. That would not be a very tall tree! Anyway, I'll just have to get a proper sized tree in the spring to fertilize with the ashes from our Yule log, and buy a harvested full grown Yule tree for the first year!
As to our festivities, on Monday the 21st, we woke before the Sun to open gifts. The kids each got an activity tray, 3 neopets, and a movie/game. Monkey got Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, and Kanga got Dora Saves the Snow Princess. Then Monkey also got a Bilibo Pixel. It's a cube with interchangeable button like sides in six colours. This way, Monkey can make up as many games as he likes and it's all in a neatly (40% off) packaged sack. It also came with a few suggestions to get him started. As always there was also a book to go with it all! :) Kanga's other gifts were a stuffed lavender scented puppy, and a Crayola colour wonder Dora pad. The colour wonders are the markers that only colour on the colour wonder paper and nothing else. Great for little ones who want to use markers, but also enjoy colouring themselves! Matt gave me some jammie pants and an iTunes card, and I gave him a palm wallet and an iTunes care. Korbin gave me an "I love my mom" photo frame, and Matt a TimsCard (for TimBits!). We also had a family gift of Harry Potter Year 6 (gah! can't remember the name right now!).
After opening gifts (stockings included some mommy made chocolates so Monkey could eat them too), Monkey and I went out on the porch (as the Sun was rising) and said thank you to the Goddess for giving us back the God to warm the Earth again for Spring, and then it was off to Donna's! We hung out for the day (quietly as Rod was sleeping) and then had a pot luck dinner. I brought sweet potatoes...mmm!
4. Christmas:
Christmas Eve we headed over to Wayne and Olwyn/Papa and Nanny/Matt's parents to begin our Christmas traditions. Kanga was in a mood unfortunately, so she and I stayed back while the rest went to the Christmas Eve service. When they got back, we hung out, and chatted. Other years we put up the tree, but this year it was already done!
Christmas morning, we woke up Monkey, and the kids and Matt opened their stockings. After they let me sleep in a bit (Kanga does NOT sleep well in other places the 1st night) I got up and opened my stocking. Then it was breakfast cake time before digging into the tree. :) This year I made soap for every one. I made lavender, milk and honey, calendula tea tree, and aloe oatmeal. I found neat little boxes to put them in and wrapped them in tissue paper so they could keep drying. Soap is best aged at least 5 years, and optimal at 10 years. Home made soap is no different, but will last a lot longer as it doesn't have any chemical alterations other than the necessary soaponification of the olive oil. It seemed to go over well!
Monkey got some comfy jammies, reindeer book, and battle ship from Dad and Susan. A StarWars telescope and books galore from Nanny and Papa. Clothes galore, a toque from Roar of the Rings, and a dinosaur cart action player thingy from Mom and Ross. He was spoiled again and he loves it! He also got gifts from a few of my friends. :)
Kanga got some comfy jammies, a horse cart, and a soft bowling set from Dad and Susan. A dancing Dora and books galore from Nanny and Papa. Clothes galore, a toque from Roar of the Rings, and an baby surprise Cabbage Patch Kid (a baby girl!) from Mom and Ross. She too was spoiled and is loving her gifts, and she too got some things from my friends. :)
5. New Years:
HOME ONLY! :D We decided again this year to stay home and just chill out for New Years. Kanga stayed up until about 9, which is quite late for her, and the boys played Wii. I played Wii Frisbee golf with them but had to miss a few holes to take Kanga to bed. Matt did quite well for me! ;)
After that we put in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone to begin our Harry Potter Marathon. We only got through the first two that night, so I watched four more yesterday.
Yesterday, the boys were playing Wii, or maybe Ratchet and Clank...I don't remember, but I told Monkey he needed to take a bathroom break, and halfway up the stairs he started crying! He's a tough kid, so I thought this was really weird and called Matt up. We had no idea, but when we couldn't settle him down stairs Matt decided to take him to the ER. Originally he was going to take him to University, but he decided to take him to Victoria just in case because they have the children's ER and facilities just in case. They left around 3:30pm, and while they were away, I got calls from mom and Wayne. I'm not one to announce anything before I know what's going on, plus I didn't want to worry anyone, so I didn't mention it.
On their way out the door, I told Matt to keep me up to date so I wouldn't worry to much. I didn't get any updates though! At 7:30pm when they finally got home, Matt told me that he'd forgotten his phone. It turned out that he likely had a tortioned testicle. A good thing we took him in. If it stays tortioned and undecended too long he'd need surgery to remove it. Luckily, on the way to the ultrasound, something in the way Matt was carrying him 'fixed' it. Monkey actually said to Matt "Dad! It's fixed!"
Like a good mommy, as soon as Kanga was in bed I headed outside to shovel the foot of snow off of our parking spot. Then I watched it, both waiting for the boys to get home, and making sure that my spot didn't get parked in! I hate it when I shovel my spot and others steal it! It happens too often, but not last night.
~*~*~*~
Well, I think that's it for now! Thank you so much everyone for all your generosity and hospitality. I had a great holiday, and hope you enjoy your soap! :)
How the time flies! Monkey has now turned 6 as of 1:04am on January 29, 2009. He went into school with his macaroons to share for the class, but was convinced that he didn't turn 6 until Jan 30 for some reason. The only thing we can think of is that he knew his party was the following day and that there was some connection there.
On Friday, I dropped Kanga off at daycare and Monkey and I played some Wii. He got a second controller for his birthday, so now we can play together. Around 11:30 we went to the bank, and then to Wal-Mart to get some goodie bag stuff. By the time we left Wal-Mart, goodie bags, a new spring coat for Kanga, and some new indoor shoes for Monkey in tow, it was 12:20. The movie we were going to see started at 12:30 and we hadn't had lunch yet! We raced to the car, got to the theatre, got our tickets and grabbed some pizza from one of the stands. I got Monkey some root beer, and apparently there's artificial colour in there so he can't have Barq's anymore. Anyway, after searching the theatre for seats, we ended up in the front row, the very front row, but hadnt' missed the start. It was still in previews. Monkey picked Hotel for Dogs and it was okay. I wouldn't have picked it if there had been another option, but Monkey liked it.
After the movie we went to get Kanga, and get the goodie bags ready for his party. We rested for about an hour and then headed off to Fleetway for his glo-golf party! It went really well. Kanga was a backpack baby for the golf, and all the kids did really well. My group finished way ahead of the other group, so we played I-spy with the mural. That really worked to keep them occupied for about 15min! Then we had a potty break, I paid and the other group came out. Dinner was served and then cake. While cake was eaten, Monkey opened his presents because we were running out of time, but he got to finishe once the presents were opened. He loved his day and felt so special! Thank you everyone who came and celebrated with us!
Monkey has been having trouble socially at school from the beginning. Last February we considered taking him to team with his teacher, the principle, the learning support teacher, and the school psychologist to see what we could do to help him. This fall we started a communication book where he gets check marks if he's good, and x-es if he's bad. He only has to work toward two: listen, and play. He's been getting the listen check marks quite consistently, but the play are fairly spaced out.
Long story short, I've been thinkin of having him assessed for ADHD for a while. I've always sort of suspected that he may have ADHD as I see a lot of my own behaviours in him. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with him, or that he is going to have a hard time in school. His teacher has said that he is very bright and that she has no concerns at all with his academics. He just has to touch. He needs to learn how to control his impulses to touch his friends. He's starting to get a reputation at school, and this makes me so sad!
Last year he hated school, but so far this year he likes it. I think it makes a huge difference that he's getting to spend more time with me too though. Last year we were out the door by 6:45am and I didn't see him until 12:30 at which point I drove him home, took him to the washroom and walked him to school. Then it was 6:00pm or later before I saw him again. While it was a great part-time job, it took me away from my child. By 7:00pm we were getting ready for bed, and the poor kid never got to see me. This year, I can walk him to school, hang out with him after lunch, and just get to know my kid again!
The assessment did show that Monkey has ADHD, so we're going to be eating the Feingold Diet. Dr. Feingold designed the diet in the 1970s to help kids with Autism, Asburgers, ADD, ADHD, bedwetting, and a variety of other issues. Basically we go back to eating like we would have 100 years ago when these disorders were unheard of. Stage one is no artificial flavours, no artificial colours, no BHA/BHT/TBHQ (preservtives), artificial sweeteners, salicylates. Stage two is
Calcium Propionate (CP), Corn Syrup (CS), Sulfite (SF), Sodium Benzoate (SB), Monosodium Glutamate (MSG/HVP), Nitrites/Nitrates (N), and Natural Smoke Flavor (SM).
Now I just have to figure out how to implement the program and we're off to the races!
Well, Samhain (Hallowe'en) has come and gone for another year. We've paid tribute to our passed ancestors and celebrated the arrival of our new roots. Another year has come and gone. For some reason I didn't get all festive like I usually do this year. Don't get me wrong, I decorated my home, even got the foresight to put my pumpkin light lanterns on my icicle lights so all I have to do sometime this week is pop off the pumpkins and I'm ready for Yule! I carved the Jack-o-Lanterns, I put up the stickers, and happily hunted for costumes. I just didn't feel like giving out candy and dressing up. Maybe I'm getting jaded, but when I was a kid, you went trick-or-treating at friends, relatives, acquaintances, but not complete strangers (unless you wanted to meet the new neighbour) and I hardly knew any of the kids who appeared out of the wood work. I can count 5 of the 50. What's the fun in seeing a bunch of kids you don't know dressed up. It's way more fun to guess who's under the mask when you stand a chance.
On the other hand, Monkey aka Darth Vadar and Matt went trick-or-treating and met a nice blind lady who lives on the street behind us. She asked who was there, what the costumes were, and how many people. Then she told the two of them to reach in her candy bag and pick what they'd like. Monkey grabbed some for Matt, who felt a little bad for taking her candy, but how can you put it back at that point! She would never know who's at her door except those really close to her for whom she can recognize the voices. I'll have to remember her next year. Those 20 year olds were pretty funny too. "Last year we swear!" I don't really care, they had great costumes! The 12 year old with the mask and street clothes on the other hand, I'm pretty sure he just stole his little brother's mask! Which reminds me, poor Monkey forgot his mask at daycare so he was all dressed up with no mask to wear! At least he had the rest though. Hopefully the mask is intact on Monday. Samhain photos are on Wednesday and I'd hate to try and find a new mask after the date!
Kanga had a little skeleton costume. I have a pic of her but not one of Monkey. I'll get one up when we get his mask back! (It seems I haven't downloaded it yet. I'll have to post it later!)
Well with both kids at daycare yesterday, I made two pairs of shoes and five diapers. I was rather exhausted from all the sewing though so didn't feel like dressing up for the SpiralScouts Hallowe'en/Samhain party. I felt bad but grabbed my "lookin boo-tyful" hat so I wasn't completely undressed. Monkey was all decked out and Kanga too. The potion (sprite, lime sherbert and gummy worms) was a hit again too. Made it one drink at a time and that went much better, just more slowly and less drink (the sherbert was in the way), but the kids didn't care!
Monkey's new backpack and lunch box came! He was very excited, and couldn't wait to take it to school and daycare today. He was so funny! He showed Matt proudly and took it off to school this morning telling everyone "This is my new rolly-pully backpack!" I love it!
Yes, that would be Christmas, Yule, Kwanza, Hannuka, or which ever you celebrate. Fall comes and we all start thinking, "Where am I going to find the money this year!?" Or, "Will so and so like this? Do they even like what I get them?" Yes, this cultural phenomon also comes with Santaclaustrophobia. A disease unlike any other. A young child sees Santa, runs to him, gets trapped near him by the photographer, candy helper, or any one else disguised as an elf, and freaks out. Oh the season is wonderful in deed!
This post is not just to bash the upcoming holidays though, so never fear! I really do enjoy the extra time with family and friends. Not the driving, but in our society it's the reality we have created! It's also to request, no beg, that people think before giving. Giving is a wonderful thing to do, but it can be hard to feel grateful when you receive yet another bath kit (I don't take baths though last years was handy for labour soaks), or a candle that smells wonderful (but where am I going to put it). I am grateful, and I love that people think of me. Now please think of me in a different way.
1. Kanga is using the potty. This means that those lovely shirts that button under her to keep her shirt down are actually a pain. For diapered babies they're great, but for pottied babies, they get soaked in pee when rushed to the potty and accidentally dangled, or they hang open all day waiting for that accidental whoops.
2. Kanga is using the potty. I know I sound like a broken record here, but that also means that as helpful as it is to get us disposable diapers, wipes, etc (and I really am grateful! She does use them with daddy, and longer trips), I'm still working through what has been given previously (thanks again!).
3. Kanga is a baby. That being said, she does not need countless toys. If you'd like to get her something to play with, an unfinished wood or cloth toy is best. I can toss the cloth in the wash, the wood has nothing that will make her sick and we're off to the races. Check out her Cheeky Monkey registry for some ideas. Toys'R'Us has some great ones now too!
4. I have a wishlist, and will be making one for Kanga as well. Monkey has one that we need to update as well, but here are the lists. I never remember what it was each of us, including myself, wanted/needed when put on the spot, so browse for ideas, or just pick an item. Up to you! :)
Amanda - Sears #200320689632, Froogle amandak@alumnae.alphaphi.org
Monkey - Sears #200700543249 (also would like martian madness)
Kanga - Sears #200831733448, Cheeky Monkey (search Amanda Coughlin)
Yay! Now don't forget to drop hints as to what you would like or you'll get what you get! :)
I love my Snugli! I decided that I would get a new carrier for this baby (didn't yet know who she was at that point) because the one I had for Monkey was uncomfortable, hurt my back, and a hand me down (thank you for that though!). I got a nice one for $25 and it has been great! It's got padded straps like a backpack, built in criss-cross, and it's super easy to adjust and get Kanga into.
As the weather gets cooler, I start thinking about what I'm going to do for winter clothes. I got Kanga a Jolly Jumper cuddle bag for her carseat, a hat to keep her ears warm, and then thought "she's going to go for walks in a stroller in the winter with day care. She needs a snow suit!" Okay, I can handle a snow suit. Then I thought, "She'll need to wear the snow suit when she's in the Snuggli to keep warm enough when we're out for walks. She's not going to fit!"
I have a Jolly Jumper Snuggle Cover to use as a blanket, but that won't be warm enough in
-20*C! A snowsuit with the cover will be minimal! Anyway, I've been thinking about how I'm going to carry Kanga to Monkey's school. My friend has a mei tai carrier (used in Asia) that I admired, so I'm going to save up for one of those. Baby Hawk has custom made ones and some ready to orders. If there isn't a price difference, then I'm set! Kanga will fit in it until she's ready to walk everywhere that way!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I'm traumatized. Day went smoothly for Monkey though. I dropped him off, he had a great day at school and Matt picked him up right after class. Problem was he wasn't supposed to. He signed him out at the office like a good daddy, and said bye to Monkey's teacher.
I on the other hand, called the after school program at 3:45 to make sure that Monkey got to the program okay, and the worker told me he wasn't there and that he hadn't been Tuesday either. I'd left a message saying he started JK on Wednesday, so they should have known to go find him. I freaked out completely. I told the worker that she had better find my son. He's 4 years old. Where is he! Fighting tears and trying to figure out the next rational thing to do and keep on working with the kids and not freak them out, I decided to call his school and see if the secretary could page his teacher or if she knew anything.
I called the school, and said "It's Amanda Coughlin calling and my son Monkey was to start with the after school program today. He just started JK today and they don't know where he is. Do you have any idea where my son is." I said this as calmly as motherly possibly under the circumstances and frankly my voice sent chills down my spine. The secretary told me it's not her responsibility to know where my child is, and that I need to make arrangements for him. WELL POO HER! She then told me that Matt had picked him up. Why couldn't she tell me that in the first place! Granted I could have called Matt before the school, but I wasn't thinking about him being with his dad, I was thinking the school had my son, likely in his classroom, and the secretary could page the room to check! She also gave me heck for freaking out the workers. Well excuse me, but if my son is lost, they had better be freaking out. He's 4 and it's his first day of school!
Well, I'm angry again right now, and everything worked out fine. Yesterday, I told work I'd be late so I could make sure he got to program okay. I NEEDED that for my peace of mind. I've had 2 nightmares about him being lost since, and with it having been real to me so recently, it's not just the scary dreams, I wake up and run to his room to make sure he is really there. Traumatized! I'm telling you!
Well, another year has begun. I dropped Monkey off at school promptly at 8:45 and waited for school to begin. He met up with his buddies, played tag, got upset when they wanted to play cars, and then wound up playing cars anyway. He had is regular bit of crying when the teachers came because he had to stop playing, but lined up quickly just the same.
I went for a good long walk with two of the mums of his friends, and it was nice to have a walking buddy (or two). When I got home I went to run errands. That errand was the always exciting trip to Cheeky Monkey! I got Kanga some Retro BabyBanz sunglasses just like D's. I had hoped to find a pink, green, anything but black. There was also blue and white, but I don't like the look of white, and even baby blue would have folks saying what a cute baby boy I have! Kanga went potty at Cheeky Monkey and we headed back home.
I made it back in perfect time. Kanga was asleep in her carseat so we went to school with the buggy. Of course she woke up as we were arriving so I moved to a corner to wait for the kids and fed her. Most of the mums started coming around 11:25 and she'd eaten for about 10 min so she was happy again.
Anyway, Monkey had a great first day, as per his teacher's report, and off home we went to grab some lunch!
Day 2 was a little more stressful as the JKs started filtering in. Tuesday was just the SKs so there were only 5 or 6 of them there. Monkey got the whole class, mostly boys and a lot of Nov/Dec birthdays so still 3 years old, barking. His teacher was not amused so I had a chat with him about being a big brother and showing the other kids how to behave at school.
We're going to get a communication book going this year. We had talked about it last year and it just didn't get implemented. I wrote a note (today) letting his teacher know how we do things at home as she had asked for consistancy. At home we use a planner and I check off his chores, activities, etc as he does them. If he has more checks at the end of the week than x-es, then he gets a sticker. If he has a tempertantrum he get's a sad face on that day, and 5 min on the timer to cool down before we talk things through. I got him a school planner, and sounds like things are going to work out!
I'll keep you updated!
Monday, May 5, 2008
4:00am
Amanda wakes up with cramps, has a snack and decides to listen to "Easy First Stage" of Hypnobabies course "just in case" to get back to sleep.
4:30am
Cramping intensifies while listening to track, frequency now every 5 minutes, so decide to take a shower before trying to get back to sleep.
5:00am
Give up on sleep and turn on HGTV. Good ol' HGTV...mmm...Mike Holmes.
6:30am
Wake up again and give up on sleep all together. Have a real shower, get breakfast, plan out my day, start wave (birthing wave is another name term for contraction that has no implication of pain) chart.
8:30am
Head out to take Monkey to the sitters. Decide I'd better get some last minute errands done so go to mall for receiving blankets, and to pick up my medic alert bracelet in case this really is it. Waves are still cramp like and between 20 and 50 min apart depending on how much I walk. Decide to walk around the mall for a bit to see if things pick up.
11:30am
Stop home to drop off purchases, grab lunch, and freak out Matt by telling him about my waves.
12:30pm
Get back home from picking up Monkey from sitters. Ask him if he's ready to be a big brother. Chill out and try to take a nap while Monkey is at school. Sister, Mel, calls to chat about some wedding stuff (July 5th). Waves now 20-40 min apart, so getting closer, but still not 100% sure this is it.
4:00pm
Get Monkey from school and run into LCC worker who comments on how low I'm carrying today. Noticed that myself at 6:30 when I gave up on sleeping. Hmmm... Get home and Matt decides that Monkey is going to stay home from karate because he's worried that I'll need him sooner than later.
6:00pm
Call SpiralScouts to let them know Monkey won't be there this evening. (Later found out that Misha had thought I might be having our baby, and she was right! *high five*)
8:00pm
Same time Scouts would have been finishing, waves move to 20min apart, but still not strong at all. Decide to listen to next Hypnobabies track just in case.
8:30pm
Waves now 10-15min apart, take hot bath and soak for 40min as suggested during chats with our midwife. Waves lessen in intensity, but move to 7-10min apart.
9:30pm
Manage to get my colosal self out of the tub, get ready for bed, finished Monkey's hotdog and try to sleep.
10:30pm
Wake up and have a snack and something to drink.
11:30pm
Repeat
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
12:30am
Waves are 5-7min apart but no real intensity. Decide to get up because sleep isn't working out!
2:30am
Things are starting to pick up now!
3:30am
Waves are between 2-5min, decide to call our midwife after pacing, rocking, and having to focus a bit more on Hypnobabies. Waves still not too strong, but pretty sure this is it.
4:00am
Midwife calls back and listens for a contraction. I let her know I've had a couple while on the phone (rocking on the dresser). She asks if I'd like her to come over, I say "uhhuh."
4:30am
Midwife arrives. Waves build in intensity, begin dancing with Matt to ease intensity.
5:00am
Midwife checks to see what sort of progress I have made: fully effaced, 7cm dialated. Matt wakes Monkey, calls parents to meet us at the hospital.
5:30am
Last washroom break, decide to go to hospital for delivery.
6:00am
Arrive at hospital, felt urge to push en route, takes 6 waves to get down the hall to check in. Go to waiting room, tell nurse our midwife should be here soon if not yet, she takes us back to a lovely birthing room that was bigger than our bedroom. It had a tub, dresser, warming table, attatched washroom and kitchen, wow!
6:10am
Water breaks while pushing in squatting position. Midwife checks for heart rate of baby, can't find heart rate, helped onto birthing bed. Wayne and Olwyn arrive, Matt takes Monkey out to sit with them. Midwife not ready for delivery yet, back-up not there.
6:20am
June arrives in waiting room, nurse attending for back-up lets us know.
6:25am
Baby girl (here after dubbed Kanga) is born, no cord around her neck. Put immediately on my chest for hugs, I open her legs and ask "who are you?" to see that we have a baby girl. Lungs suctioned by RT and checked over by pediatrician who arrived moments after birth having been called "just in case" when couldn't find heart rate. (Who gave Midwife trouble for not braceleting her!)
6:30am
A heads out with Matt to meet the grandparents and big brother waiting outside!
6:30am-9:30am
Visits with family, Mel and Ross arrive, Kanga gets her going home giraffe outfit.
10:30am
Home we go!
Overall I was happy with how the Hypnobabies program worked for me. With my first birth I used meditation and was able to control the wave intensity enough. This time, hypnosis being a similar technique, I had better focus, and was able to go striaght through without thinking about pain relief other than "what do I need to do now?" Tried the brithing ball by the way, and this was not a labour I could sit down for. The walking brought her down very effectively and by the time I decided I might want to sit, it felt like I was sitting on her head if I was on the ball for a contraction!
Many have been asking how our baby girl (aka Kanga) is doing, so I suppose I'd better join the 21st century of baby updates, and post a note once and a while! It'll still take me a while to get things up and going due to the growing SK boy (aka Monkey)! (Wow, SK already and next week at that! Yikes!)
