I can do this

I really can... I can go away for the weekend, to reconnect with all the amazing women in my family! It will be okay for me to take some personal time away from work, to be away from my family for two days... I will come back recharged, relaxed, and energized. Everyone will be okay. (Yes, I am trying to convince myself... not you).

Welcome back buddy!

This guy has had an ear infection for the past week. Actually, he's probably had it for much longer than that, but Friday was the first day he said his ear hurt. He has an incredibly high pain tolerance, and his issues with body awareness mean that he's often not able to tell us where something hurts. So, when he says something hurts, we know there's a pretty big problem, and we always take him to a doctor. Figuring out a medical issue always sheds a lot of light on what's been going on in the week(s) leading up to the time that he's able to tell us about pain.

It's really hard for me when he's sick. In some ways, we lose him. We lose time, and progress. We lose some of the emotional connections we've been working so hard to strengthen. In lots of ways, it's like the AS takes over when he's sick, and we're left with a little boy who can't regulate his emotions or behavior, and who's struggling just to get by. During these times, I am so thankful for the boy that we usually have in our family, but it also makes me really sad... sad to know that there are things that can throw him for such a big loop, sad that his emotions are so out of control and it's so hard to comfort him in this state, and sad that we're not connecting in the same way that we usually do.

The good news is that the medication seems to be doing its job, and he's slowly returning to us.... with more stable moods, more good natured, calmer behavior, and less discomfort.

What a trooper!

Well, L's surgery is done, and she's bounced back remarkably quickly! We were up at about 5:00 a.m. on Monday to get ready to go, which was not an easy feat. We arrived at admitting at the Children's Hospital at 8:00, and L and her monkey both got special bracelets. Then we waited in one waiting room, had a pre-surgical check-up and got changed into hospital garb, waited in another waiting room where we spoke with her surgeon and the anesthesiologist. It was very impressed by how thoroughly everyone explained what would happen next, how child-friendly all of the areas were, and how well everyone dealt with both L and us!

The surgeon explained that the procedure L would have usually takes about 10 or 15 minutes, but that she expected it to take longer because of L's unusual anatomy. When the anesthesiologist came out, he let L choose a flavour. She chose strawberry for herself, and banana for monkey ;-) When the nurse came to get L, she walked away so calmly and bravely...no big deal! After about 40 minutes, the surgeon came back to speak to us. She felt good about how the procedure had gone, but had discovered that L's anatomy was a little more unusual than she expected. We've known for quite awhile that L has two poles on her right kidney, with two ureters that both have reflux. What she didn't realize is that the second ureter is located very near the mouth of her bladder. If it was any lower, she would actually have issues with incontinence!

So, she'll go back for a VCUG in November to see if the procedure has fixed the reflux (which I am NOT looking forward to...she won't be sedated, and she remembers that it hurts!). If it has, we'll be able to take her off of the antibiotics. Hopefully, that will be the end of infections. If she gets more infections, the problem may be with the kidney itself...which will be a whole new path to travel down.

When L woke up from her "magic sleep" she was pretty disoriented, and tore out her own IV (SO like her!), cried a bit, and was pretty upset. She calmed down after a cuddle and we were able to head back to the recovery area. Because she had torn out her IV, we needed to encourage her to drink a LOT so that she'd have to pee... the requirement for us to be able to go home. She liked the jello, popsicle, and Treehouse on the TV, but got pretty upset the first time she needed to use the bathroom. Once she had enough fluid though, she was able to go pee...and we could go home. She even asked to stop at "Old McDonald's" to get some fries for the ride home ;-) She was pretty sleepy for a few more hours, but by bedtime...she was back to her usual self! Unbelievable!

Very early tomorrow morning

We will be taking this one to the Children's Hospital to have her bladder reflux corrected. We'll need to be there at 8 a.m., and we've got a two hour drive to get there. She's not much of a morning person, and she won't be allowed to drink anything after 6 a.m. (and only water or apple juice until then). She is a huge milk drinker, so I'm not too sure how that will go. She'll be having a non-invasive procedure done, but she will be under general anaesthetic for the procedure, which is probably the most worrisome part of the entire thing for me! It will be nice to be able to take her off of the antibiotics, and to finally have this problem fixed... but I'm hoping it won't be too uncomfortable for her.

In other news, going to school every day seems to be really good for G! He's had a few rough days, some difficult transitions...but overall, things have been much easier for him this year. I'm sure that the consistency in his schedule is the reason that his threshold is just way lower most of the time. It's so nice to have him settled in, and back to himself so quickly!

And this one has been so funny lately! She's really turning into a two year old... talking up a storm, spinning, running, and jumping off the chair today. She's experimenting with screaming, hitting, and pouting to get her way. Unfortunately for her, we're pretty hardened veterans when it comes to this strategy...her big sister has given us more than enough experience to fall for it ;-) She's loving being back at daycare, and loving some extra time with her Grandma on her non-daycare days.

Hooray!

I'm one proud mama tonight! G had a sub today. We knew his teacher would be okay, and we were prepared for lots of anxiety, tears, and reluctance to go to school, especially since the end of his week was pretty rough. He surprised me to no end this morning when he was OKAY! Somehow, knowing that his sub was one of his Kindergarten classmate's grandma made all the difference. It was such a relief to see him running off to play this morning when I dropped him off at school. I can't believe how far we've come!

Beautiful

Check out a few of the awesome photos that the talented ladies at Rhubarb Roots photography took of my beautiful sweet girl...

http://rhubarbrootsphotography.blogspot.com/2008/09/sweet-girl.html

They totally captured her personality! I can't get over what a poser she is!

Grade One!

Today, you started Grade One. After a lot of anxiety last year, I wasn't too sure how things would go today, especially since you've had trouble sleeping over the past two weeks. A visit to your teacher last week seemed to have been a big help, because you were SO excited this morning! There were no tears, no resistance, no worries...just lots and lots of excitement.

When we got to school this morning, you were excited to see Nita waiting for you. I think you were happy to see a familiar face! Your teachers were waiting for you in your classroom, and you were so excited you just bounced around, and bounced around some more. You found your very own desk, with your name on it, hung your jacket on your hook, and put your inside shoes on. There were so many things to look at on the walls that it was hard to know what else you should pay attention to, but I was so thrilled to see how happy you were to have a good friend in your classroom, and I was so happy to hear that you two played together on the playground!

I have to admit that today was a little hard for me. This is the first time that I've really been forced to let go, and that's not easy for me. I'm a pretty protective mama! I've been so lucky to have you so close to me, in daycare at my work, for the past five years that it's a new experience for me to not be able to peek in to see how your day is going!

After hearing about your day, though, I've got lots of hope for this year. Your teachers seem so nice and caring, and like they have a real desire to understand you. There are good friends for you in your class, and you are starting the year with lots of excitement and motivation. I couldn't be more proud!

tradition

Visiting this amusement park has become a summer tradition for us, and we almost didn't make it there this year! It was incredibly windy on Saturday, when we were there, but everyone had a great time. This was M's first year to go on many of the rides, and she loved it...and her siblings loved sitting with her. All three of them still seem to be thoroughly convinced that they are actually steering the rides ;-) I love that innocence!

G and I played a round of mini-golf while L went on the roller coaster with Daddy (not her favourite activity). This was our first time playing mini golf at this location, and it was just the right difficulty level for G (and me too, I guess). He's been crazy about mini-golf this year, and he's pretty good too!

We had a pretty sudden end to the day. G and L were on the bouncing pillow when G got attacked by another little boy. I was so proud of the fact that he didn't attack back, but he was pretty confused and upset by the incident. L had a blister on her foot and was upset by that... so we ended the day with the ride that G was most looking forward to (because he was tall enough to go on it by himself)... the Super Slide. We raced each other side by side down the slide, then went home.

When did this happen?

Really... when did these two get SO big? I've noticed them growing over the summer, but suddenly L isn't a toddler anymore, and M isn't a baby. Yikes! I've enjoyed all of the changes... watching them stretch, develop in new ways... but I find myself a little unprepared for all of my kids to be turning into big kids.