Writing Sample & School update

I'm very happy to report that I have nothing to report! 
The first month of school has gone by with very little fanfare.  Cate has even said "I'm coming back" a couple times already as we drive away from carpool.   She is doing well in her behavior ratings and has gotten greens (good behavior) all except one day - as I write this I am at the same time breathing a sigh of relief and hoping I didn't just jinxed myself.  We have had to make one accommodation for her so far - she is only doing 5 spelling words per week instead of the 10 the rest of the class has to test on.  Cate just can't handle more than 5 right now - the whole concept of a spelling test is a little hit or miss with her.  Home work is already taking about 30 minutes for us right now because we have to add in some reading practice on top of the teachers spelling and math assignments. 

We are doing pretty good 5 words - we follow the teacher's "homework" for studying them which includes reading and spelling out load on Monday, writing 3 times each on Tuesday, sky writing on Weds, trying to write with the work covered on Thurs, test on Friday.  She has been getting 3/5 so far every week because she is transposing letters.  Which is weird because she never does that at home even when I give her practice tests - at home she might give me the wrong vowel or give up on the word before she says the last letter but never transposes.  We'll keep trying though. 

Our biggest challenge right now is counting.  Her class goal is to count & write numbers to 120 by the end of the quarter.  Cate can only count to 12 without any mistakes or help.  Get her in the teens and all bets are off - we think part of it is speech related because the sounds she makes for the numbers are very similar.  The rest is that she just doesn't care - she will name the number correct if you point to it on a number chart 90% of the time for the first one you ask her, 75% for the 5th one you ask her, 50% for the 10th one - you get the picture, she doesn't like the exercise and tunes out guessing the longer it goes on.   I'd say on any given day when I have her say the numbers out load while pointing to them from 1 - 120 she probably gets 75% or less correct.  So we work on it every night but haven't made much progress.  Anyone who has any creative ideas please let me know - it is a very frustrating thing to teach counting to a child who doesn't want to learn it.

Outside school things were a little crazy last weekend with family visiting and parties/dinners for Ric, my mom's and my birthdays in less than a week.  Which leads me to my writing sample which I am LOVING!!!  Cate wrote this birthday card for me - grandma spelled the words (actually for most of them she only gave her the letter sounds) but the writing is all her.  Her writing is definitely greatly improved since last year although her free form is much better then when she tries to write in between lines.

This one is Lucy's card - her lines and circles are pretty good too but her thing is stickers!

A small town evening

One of the things I love best about our town is the events like the 4th of July parade that show just how small town this sprawling metro community is at heart.  People stand up for the flag or veterans and wave at neighbors even though they have never met.  Another perfect example of this is the summer concert series.  The last Friday of each month during the summer there is a free concert on our town square.  People lay down blankets, bring dinner, dance and listen to the music - no matter the heat index these concerts are always packed.  We have been taking Cate to these concerts since she was an infant.  She used to fall asleep on my dad's chest with the music blaring away.  When she was a toddler, she was a little afraid of the loud music but eventually she discovered the joy of the dance floor and would drag daddy out as soon as the band started.  I read quite a few blogs and lots of posts on a DS message board.  I read stories about the lady in the grocery store who told a mom of a toddler with DS she was so sorry and when the mom said no she is great the lady replied "no it really is sad".  I've read board messages from mom's afraid to go out because people stare at their children and make more stupid comments then I could ever list.  It makes me sad that there is a world out their that doesn't understand but it also makes me proud that my community seems to get it for the most part.  When we go to these concerts no one even notices us, except to smile at the cute little girls.  I've never felt like Cate was anything but welcome, accepted, and just like everyone else.  As we caravan in with our double stroller (more to carry stuff then kids these days), if Cate graces someone with a wave that person always smiles and waves back.  Dancers make way for her to twirl with her daddy and smile at her pure joy.  Maybe I'm naive but I don't see pity in the smiles from our community, I see appreciation of her extreme cuteness.  Too bad summer almost over - Cate is going to be sad on the day I tell her there isn't a concert this month.

PS - I took these shots with my phone, I didn't set up this photo shoot - the first picture they were just playing some game they made up together.  I only went over because I was envisioning Lucy taking a dive into to that fountain, after the splashing she was pretty wet but it was hot so she was dry by the time the concert actually started.

Happy Birthday Ric

Happy Birthday to a daddy who is more loved then any person on earth by these two little girls.  Cate completely believes her daddy hung the moon and both girls come running the minute he gets home for their hugs.   Happy Birthday to an awesome husband and a superhero father.

He is:

.. a takes his daughter fishing daddy. (2010)

.. a teaches his girls to be silly daddy. (Oct 2011)

... a master pinta helper daddy. (Dec 2011)



.. the one who helps ward off the first day jitters. (Aug 2012)

..a  teaches her to ride a bike daddy. (May 2012)

..  a plays the part of the willing "soup" customer daddy. (June 2012)



.. a slow dances and

twirls with his girls daddy.  (June 2012)

  

..  a gives horsey rides even when they are too big daddy. (Oct 2011)

.. the absolute best couch cuddler daddy. 

 

.. a gets down in the sand to play daddy. (July 2011)

.. makes his girls fly daddy.  (July 2011)



..  always has open arms and



will catch you daddy. 

.. inspires kisses daddy.

 

.. the daddy we love to the sun and back.

.. simply one of the best people I know.

 Happy Birthday Ric!

The big race to bedtime

So many of you have read my recounting of the horrible first two weeks of kindergarten.  I hope you didn't think that my lack of postings last week was related to Cate in school.  It was solely a matter of me trying to get into a routine and not being very successful.  Somehow the littlest bit of homework added to a need for early bed time is hard for me to manage.  I feel like I'm in a race - I leave for work at 6:30 am, rush to get my work done while trying to ignore the pull of the Internet that wants to distract me, run out the door at 3:05 to pick up Cate then Lucy.  Once we are home I should feel relief but that is actually where the real stress begins.  Somehow the hours between 4:00 and 8:00 move at double time so what should be a 15 minute snack break for the girls to watch one episode of Doc McStuffins while I wash lunch boxes and empty the dishwasher ends up taking until 4:30.  Then the homework that should take 10 minutes takes a half hour so before I know it its 5:00 and I haven't even started dinner yet.  Given the perfect weather and my new goal of less TV before dinner, I've been getting the girls outside after homework and before dinner.  It is great for them but does add to my time crunch because they drive me crazy until I submit  ask so sweetly to be pushed on the swings that I can't resist and end up staying out there for a little while.  After I extricate myself from swing pushing duty, I rush back inside to make dinner, set the table, and pack lunches.  All the while watching the clock rush towards 6:30, when I was hoping to eat at 6:00.   Then I make another mistake - and yes I make it every night thinking it will turn out differently (definition of insane right?) - and let them watch "one" TV show while Ric & I clean up the table and kitchen.  So now my plans of a 7:00 bath and sleeping by 8:00 are toast because I have to pull them away from the TV to make them clean up the mess in the room and hustle them upstairs.  Of course they are the masters of stretching out bedtime so it is much more likely we are just starting their nightly episode of "monkey" (Curious George on PBS) at 8:00 instead of turning off lights.  I know you are thinking that at this point letting them watch TV is crazy but that is actually the one thing that works in this schedule.  It is a pretty calm show that Cate has been watching right before bed since she was about a year old.  It normally has them calmed down enough to read a story to and then put to sleep.  It is also frequently the first time that I actually get to sit down for a few minutes before I have to finish the work downstairs I didn't get to before bath time.  Lucy usually sits in my lap and cuddles with me while Cate cuddles with daddy on the bed.  I love monkey time - it is a great part of my day even though I can quote every line of every episode of the PBS show and on the rare occasion we see a new one Ric & I actually celebrate!

I know you are thinking - why not get Ric to help in this crazy routine or move some of the tasks to other times.  To answer the first question - poor Ric has had just as crazy a day because he got both girls to wake up and get ready for school, fed them breakfast then delivered them to their schools before driving the 45 minutes downtown to work.  Then he fought rush hour to get home by 6:15 if he was lucky - later if he wasn't.  Of course at that point I suck him into my frenzy until bath time when I try to let him unwind for a few minutes in prep for the bedtime ritual.  As far as moving tasks to other times - I'm trying and failing so far but I should have it figured out more or less by the time the first holiday breaks roll around to disrupt everything.  And of course this rant doesn't even account for the one day a week when Cate has therapy so I didn't get anything done except homework.

But you know what - I'm incredibly thankful for everything I just said I have to do.  Know why??  Because it is regular life stuff and there is so much value in the normality of it all - I don't have a kid with medical concerns so I can be at work without worrying about the next call from the nurse, I don't have a kid who needs special care so she can go outside and play by herself, I have an independent kid who can direct her own play and keep safe without needing my help or direction, and I even have kids who can do chores and help me out in little ways.  My life is as normal as a multiple kid, two working parent house can be and that is awesome.  Of course I have to remind myself of these facts every once in a while.  And while all this craziness swirls around me, Cate & Lucy remind me how great our life is by telling me they love me unprompted or asking to kiss my cut finger.  They remind me when I feel happy as they cooperate to sneak off with the iPad to watch DisneyJr Live.  They remind me when I am proud as they remember their table manners or help each other out.  Keeping things in perspective is so important - so I'll keep running this race to bedtime every day and remembering how lucky I am to be doing it.

A photo shoot of Cate

A couple weeks ago Cate did a photo shoot to be included in a gallary of special kids for a charity event.  The pictures were all taken by Nina Sheilds and I think they are excellent!

I love the tooth fairy!!

Cate lost another baby tooth yesterday - her 5th so far.  This one is on the bottom, to the left of her front teeth so its not nearly as noticeably cute as front tooth gaps from last time!  It was also a big bugger - the new tooth is coming in way to the back, so it only loosened the baby tooth in the back not the front.  That tooth was wiggly for at least two months.  The last week it was so loose in the back you could pull it completely forward until it was parallel to the other teeth - gross I know.  But as much as we wiggled it just refused to come out.  I had warned her teacher on Monday that I thought it was close and it turns out that was a good thing because she finally wiggled it out yesterday in class.  At least Ms. B was shocked to see Cate with a bloody mouth holding a tooth!  Ms. B sweetly sent it home on an index card in a baggie so there was no chance it would get lost.

There is something so perfectly childhood about the tooth fairy.  It different than Christmas or Birthdays, I guess, because it comes somewhat randomly and unexpectedly without the anticipation that precedes an holiday.  Also it is uniquely individual - no sharing the fun with friends or family.  We talked about the tooth fairy coming on the way home from school and Cate was happily explaining the process to me.  She would put her tooth in the tooth fairy pillow, then put it under her pillow, while she was sleeping the tooth fairy would bring a treasure and a book.  ((me:  mmm a book huh - glad I asked ))

Cate was so excited last night as she put her tiny tooth in the little tooth fairy pillow and tightly put down the Velcro.  She put it under her pillow directly under her head for safe keeping.  We read her favorite bedtime story - "Birdie's Big Girl Dress" (she thought she was taking advantage of me as the reader because her daddy has read it so many nights in a row that he refused on Weds night!) and afterward I might have said "I wonder if there are more Birdie books?" <which I knew was true thanks to Becca!!>.  Cate responded on cue - "I wish I had another Birdie book".

The tooth fairy started a tradition at our house.  She brings a gold dollar coin and a little gift for each tooth.  This tooth was no exception, Cate was jumping up and down to find that the tooth had been replaced with a gold dollar and there was a new book "Birdie's Big Girl Shoes" under her pillow.   Cate told me "the tooth fairy heard my wish!!!".  I think this will be the next book to get read to shreads!  Cate is so proud of the coins which she keeps as treasure in a little glass piggy bank that was a gift from one of my mother's friends when she was just a baby.  I even stayed home a little while and was ten minutes late so I could see Cate after she found her prizes.  It was worth every minute to see that shinning face!  You just can't beat the excitement of the tooth fairy before and after the delivery!

No more wiggly teeth so I think we'll have a bit of a wait until the next one so it should be just as much fun!

sorry no pictures yet - I'll try to get one tonight and add it later!

Wordless Wednesday - Photos from a fun weekend