more tom pics

Tom was being cute again this morning. He's actually not looking at me - he was entranced by Joan's tiara (she's right beside me). I had to move it around to make it look like he was looking the right direction.

I was actually trying to get a picture of him doing this funny thing he does. If I'm behind him, because he can't pivot yet, but still wants to keep an eye on me - literally - he will arch his back and tilt his head all the way back, and just watch me upside-down. He does it all the time, but today, he started to to do it, but just rolled over instead. Probably more effective in the long run, but not as funny to watch.

Although it's Dave's birthday, his party isn't until tomorrow, to make sure Mike can make it. He's got assignments and mid-terms on the way, so was planning to spend most of tomorrow at school. But unlike work, he can quit studying anytime he wants. Last night, he made it home just in time to tuck everyone into bed. Tonight will probably be another late night.

some Tom pictures!

I took some new pictures today - I'd lost my camera charger, and my camera had been dead since halfway through our last trip to Dryden. I've scoured the whole house, and finally broke down and bought a new one. I found our nursing pillow/baby seat while cleaning the garage (we can fit cars in there now!) and thought Tom might enjoy it. He loves it! But he slithers out after a few minutes and tries to explore the floor instead.

Can't pull out a camera without attracting an audience! The rest of the boys decided to get in on the action. Joan is right beside me, too busy chowing on homemade mac and cheese to care this time. I'll try to get more pics up soon!

phew!

the first full week of school is done. Phew! We're all still getting into a new routine, and getting over the school year's first cold. It was pretty mild - we've had the kids on vitamins and early bedtimes, so no-one had it bad enough to miss school or work. They all passed it on to others instead. Mike especially - he had it the worst, and spent the week breathing and coughing on people's phones, keyboards and remotes. Nice. Joan just got a little bit of it, and her school has the same good hygeine policy Renfrew did - she takes off her coat, then makes a beeline for the bathroom to wash her hands, before she's allowed to do anything else. She's settled into school really well, and she's even picking up french! I took Dave to the library one day while they were in school, and we got a bunch of books, including counting books. She's been able to count to 10 for a while now, and and can read most of her numbers. As we were looking through, I would say the number, and she corrected me, with the number's french name! Pretty impressive with just two classes under her belt. I think now we're going to give her a shot in french immersion. Her teacher said that most studies show that kids with language delays actually benefit from learning a couple simultaneously. Not sure if that's true, but so far, so good. And she'll have John to help her out. He thinks it'd be cool for all the kids to do french immersion, then they could all talk together in french and we wouldn't understand them.

Dave is having a rough time with all this school. He comes with us to drop Joan off, of course, and runs off to the carpet to play with the other kids. Then, i have to drag him kicking nad screaming back to the car to go home for a boring old nap. He hates it. The teacher said he reminds her of another sibling from last year - while her sister was getting settled in each morning, she'd make a beeline for the painting station, whip off something as fast as she could with the few precious moments she had, and then mope out the door. But she got her turn - she's in the 3-year-old program this year, and I think we'll make sure we get Dave a spot in there for next year. Poor guy - he needs a little more fun in his life!

We had another epic shot day with the kids yesterday. I don't know if public health nurses get a per-head bonus, but there's a nurse here who actually requests my kids. We do them all at the same time, one after another. Mike structured his day so he could go with me. I got to do play-room duty, while he took each kid in turn for the shots, which I really appreciated. He'd drop one off in tears, and the others would bristle while Dad chose his next victim to enter the dreaded chamber of sharp pointy things. John and Joan are FINALLY caught up - fully immunized as far as Health Canada allows for free. Dave has his 18 month tetanus or something to go, then he's done until kindergarten. Thomas is on schedule, so he's back in another 2 months, like a normal kid. He got his specs done, too. He's still a little on the small side. He's only 14 pounds, and 24.5 inches long. He's the 10th percentile for both height and weight, and 50th for his head circumfrence. So he's little, but he's growing steadily, is within the normal range, is properly proportioned and is meeting all his milestones, so he still has a stamp of approval from the healthcare system. So far, anyway. he's doing quite a bit now, which is why they weren't concerned. On his tummy, he rests right up on his elbows most of the time, so he can look around, and can lift up on his hands for short periods. He can roll over both ways, and is trying so hard to sit up! he hasn't figured out the tripod thing just yet, but he does lots of crunches trying to sit up, so he should be strong enough soon. He's found his feet and is social and happy. He can creep a little, but it's hard for him. He's an effective non-verbal communicator and makes lots of interesting sounds. He can pick up toys and manipulate them. He's taken a very active interest in my food. He watches me eat intently, and grabs at things. But I tried feeding him a little, and that pesky tongue reflex is still there, so he's not there physically yet. They say to wait until 6 months, but John's doc said when that reflex is gone - the one where they just push everything straight back out with their toungue - that's when to start. 

Anyway, I've got a busy day. better go!

Joan's in school!

I'm so happy for Joan - I snagged her a spot in preschool! It's the one right in John's school, which is pretty convenient. I always thought it was a french school, but on the cover of John's newsletter, they placed an ad, saying they still had spots, and that it's english, but a gentle introduction to french immersion. So she'll learn a few french words of everyday things and learn a few french songs, but it's not like John, where the teacher just babbles on completely in french. How he understands it, I don't know. Her class is perfect - it's for 4-year olds only, and is focused on K readiness, so they have a more academic curriculum than daycare, and they're willing to overlook the lack of potty training. I just have to send her in pullups, and if she poops, I have to go change her. They admitted they hadn't had a special needs kid in a while, but were really open to figuring out ways of helping her keep up, and having her therapists come in and show them stuff. The age cut-off is Dec 31, so she'll be the youngest kid in the class. It'll make everything that much harder, but it will help her in the end, we think. We hope so, anyway. We figured we'd better get on this, because in BC, next year is her K year, and she needs help getting ready! Thankfully, BC is getting all day everyday K starting next year. She'd qualify for it anyway, with the diability status. But now we don't have to fight for it, or jump through any hoops - she'll just get it. And hopefully, this will give her a little leg up once she gets there. It's a big load off my concience! And I've already let her therapist know - she was so excited! In BC, preschools are required to work with the therapists, and they put together an IEP of sorts, so the teachers help support the therapy every class. I'm looking forward to next year - John and Joan will both be full day every day, and Dave will be old enough for half day preschool! It'll just be Tom and I. Though by then I'll probably have a fifth. So it'll be me, Tom and let's call him...Quincy...or maybe Quinton.

As soon as I had confirmed her a spot, I told Joan that she'd be going to school again. She was so excited! She zoomed off and asked John to get her pink backpack off the bookshelf. He did, and she put it on herself. Then she ran back to me, threw up her arms and pronounced "OK! I all ready a go!" She was pretty upset when I told her it wasn't until the next day. She refused to take her bag off until bedtime. And first thing the next day, it went right back on!

John's really excited that she's in the same school as him. He keeps asking if they can meet at recess to play. He was sad when I explained that the preschool has a separate playground, because the kids are so little. But he likes the idea of her being just down the hall from him, nonetheless.

John's enjoying school so far. His teacher is new to the school, and it's only her fourth year as a teacher, so she's fairly young. I was worried out her with John's tendency to walk all over soft teachers, but after John's description of his first day, I think she'll be alright. She laid down the law! It sounds like she spent most of the day drilling in the classroom rules, and the consequences for not following them. His old K teacher WAS moved up to grade 1 in the end, so I'm glad he got the new teacher. He likes it too - he says it's good to do different things and do things in different ways. She has her BSc, but her Bachelor of Ed is in art, drama and music, so she could be an interesting teacher. We'll see!

Mike started school yesterday, too. He found a couple courses that fit really well around his work schedule. He hasn't said much about it yet -  most of the conversation around the table revolved around the kids' days, so his day didn't get a chance to come up. But I'm sure he'll talk about it tonight - he has another class today. I think one is fluids, and the other is electricity and magnetism or something - both Physics.

Anyway, better go! I'm making cabbage rolls for dinner, and they're a little on the time-consuming side. 

a funny story...

I better tell you this one before I forget.

John had asked to make muffins yesterday. We had all the stuff, and they've been eating like horses lately, so I said sure. We made a double batch of everyone's favourite - pineapple carrot - then I decided to try something new - chocolate beet. It sounds incredibly gross, but it was actually really good, if you could get the vision of thick, blood-coloured goo out of your head while you ate it. Unfortunately, John couldn't, and he could only handle eating one. "They're so disgusting...but they're delicious!"

Anyway. One of the indredients was cocoa powder - something I don't bake with too much. John was intrigued, and wanted to know what it was.
Me - "It's cocoa. It's to make things taste like chocolate."
John - "I like chocolate. Can I try some?"
Me - "Well, it's a powder, so it's not really for eating. You just mix it with other stuff, to make other stuff more chocolatey."
John - " I like things that make things chocolatey. Can I try some?"
Me - "It really doesn't taste good. It just changes the taste of other things."
John - "I like things that change the taste of other things. Can I pleeeeeese try it?"
At this point I'm like, why am I fighting? So I handed him a spoon and let him have at it. He scooped up a huuuuge heaping spoonfull. He put it in his mouth.....and immediately gagged and ran screaming like a lunatic around the house with his mouth hanging open as he clawed at his toungue. That's about right, I thought. He eventually stumbled into the bathroom, and flushed his mouth out in the sink.

He emerged about 10 minutes later, and said, "Well, that's one lesson learned."


Another little gem from John - It was my birthday, and John was excited about the cake in the fridge. As he was playing with Joan, he said "Joan, would you like to come to Mom's birthday party? She's turning 88!"

back - kind of

we're having some mild camera and computer issues, so I haven't been online much since getting home. But I've managed to rig something up, so I'll post really quick before I get swarmed with kids - they'll probably wind up getting electrocuted if they horse around here.

We are back from an extended multi-part vacation to Dryden, and we're slowly but surely recuperating. There were lots of tears from John on the trip home, but once we got here, all was well - he said it felt nice to be in Kelowna again, and he seems to be looking forward to starting school next week. For Joan, the obvious highlight of her summer was pushing great grandma evans' wheelchair - she talks about it all the time! And for John, it seems to be a tie between the fall fair - of course - and making cookies with grandma and grandpa Phillips - he's been asking me to make sugar cookies almost every day since he got back. I've been careful not to let him know that I have the cookie cutters, or he'd never let it go! He's talked alot about taking great grandma down for tea, too, and meeting Adrienne Ashton's little guy - they played together at the park at the start of summer. They clearly both had an awesome summer - Joan says she loves everyone. And there seems to be some sort of space/alien game going on, with paper telescopes that she's been very excited about. Lots of good memories!

But sadly, now it's back home to boring old us, and our boring old life. Though we had a birthday party for me - that was very ummm...exciting. Just buying the cake was an event in itself. Mike was been working full tilt, to fill the financial hole left by the vacation, to it meant me grocery shopping with all four kids - always an exciting time. We had a bunch of stops to make, and I had to use a card from Mike, so we had to hunt him down in the field, do some banking, and make a few other stops, so by the time we got to the grocery store, they were all already done. John had been given instructions to pick out my cake by himself, so he wanted one of those little tiny kid carts to do it. I told him no, because I had visions of 1) all three of them fighting over one little tiny cart, or 2) a convoy of three tiny carts, smashing into the ankles of strangers. Neither was an appealing option, so I said no, and explained why. He insisted. I relented. Big mistake. The inevitable happened, with much screaming ind wailing and tugging and shoving in the middle of the bakery. So I took a deep breath and gave John an option - either the tiny cart goes back, or the cake does. He chose wisely - he chose to keep my cake. As he was returning the kiddie cart, an elderly lady came up and congratulated me on dealing with the situation so calmly, and how wonderful that some people are still choosing to have larger families. She had come from a family with four girls, and had lots of good memories of growing up with so many siblings. I didn't want to be such a spectacle that people noticed us, but I'm glad at least one person thought the whole freak-out had gone well, because at the time I sure didn't! Unfortunately, they were ultimately still spent, so it didn't get much better. They weren't being bad in particular - they were just being themselves. But they were all just being themselves all at the same time, which can be a little overwhelming in public. I was in the dairy isle when it started to get to me. John was jabbering way too fast about something he thought was super-duper uber exciting. Dave was popping up and down in the cart, Tom was hungry and had started to cry, and Joan was twirling in circles. I guess I looked a little weary at the moment, because a man came up behind me - he was maybe 70 or 75. "I had four this age once," he said. "I know." Then he nodded sagely, and wandered into frozen foods. I gotta say, that really made my day. It's amazing how sometimes so few words can convey so much.

My party was pretty funny. Both John and I had totally forgotten to buy candles, so all we had was cake. Mike had to work until after dark, but he still made dinner on the barbecue. And he didn't let a lack of candles spoil anything. He got out some skewers, and tried to light them on fire instead. But when they wouldn't stay lit, so he dipped them with 151 proof alcohol that he had gotten for some flaming dessert or other. It lit alright...then ran down the skewers...then spread all over the cake. That stuff is like lighting gasoline on fire, so by the time it got to the table, the whole top of my cake was up in flames! It was quite spectacular, and the kids thought it was hilarious. Everyone howled. It was the best candle yet. Too old to fit all the candles? Just light up the cake!

Anyway, better go. I hear Dave is poopy, Tom is hungry and John wants to make muffins. Never ending excitement!