All I Want for Christmas

Is there anything cuter than a child who is missing his or her two front teeth?  Jaelyn lost both of her front teeth at the same time.  Allie's first central came in before her second central fell out.  When Caden's front teeth got loose I started hoping they'd come out at the same time.  Well, my mom pulled one last week.  The other one was just a little bit loose until Caden's mouth connected with Jaelyn's knee a few nights ago.  It was hanging on be a tiny root yesterday.  He was quite the snaggletooth.  The little stinker wouldn't let me touch it though.  He likes money so I offered him a dollar.  No deal.  Two dollars.  No deal...

Three dollars....DEAL.  One good yank was all it took to create that adorable gap tooth smile!

Not To Be Left Out

Jaelyn has been working on her own persuasive writing assignment.  I would love to scan it so you can see how awesome how penmanship is getting, but it's easier for me to type it than to edit out the last names.

Dear Dr. C (her principal),

In my opinion, I think Mrs. D (her teacher) deserves a trip to a day spa.  First of all, Mrs. D is always stressed out.  In fact, when she is stressed out she spills her tea.  Second, her JOB NEVER ENDS!!  When we leave she is still here working.  Furthermore, Mrs. D likes peep toe shoes.  She will have extra cute toes after her trip to the spa because they will paint them!  As you can see, Mrs. D would love to go to a day spa.

Sincerely,
Jaelyn

Caden has also been working on his writing.  He still needs work, but I can read it and that's the most important thing.

She is spuke.  She is grompy.  She has a blak hat and blak sunglass  She is vare crepy.

Translated:  She is spookey.  She is grumpy.  She has a black hat and black sunglasses.  She is very creepy.

Caden's Field Trip

Caden had a field trip to Broom's Bloom Dairy today.  I was one of the lucky mom's to get picked out of the lottery system to chaperone.  I love this field trip.  I've been on it a couple of time.  They take you through the dairy farm and through the back of their restaurant to show you where they make the ice cream.  Then, after lunch, you get a scoop.  Today, I learned why their ice cream is so good.  She said Edy's and Briar's good ice cream is 13% fat.  Broom's Bloom is 17% fat from fresh milk!  Yum.

LOVE the wind vane

Caden was not shy about petting the cows

Oink

Reading With Dr. Seuss

I'm so stinkin' impressed with Caden's reading skills.  This is the first time, to my knowledge, that he's read Green Eggs and Ham. 

Way to go Caden and yea for Miss K and Mrs. S - 2 awesome teachers.

Caden's First Story

Caden brought home a fun story he'd written.  It's a perfect example to document how far his handwriting has come and how far it still needs to go.  Encase you can't read his writing, here's what he wrote:

"If I had $100, I would..." get golb frum the glg mine  I will be rich  I will hid my ggld at my sekr bas  I will not tell ineboteee it  I will be the richest in the h

And my translation:

"If I had $100, I would..." get gold from the gold mine.  I will be rich.  I will hide my gold at my secret base.  I will not tell anybody.  I will be the richest in the ...(he thinks the "h" at the end was the beginning of "whole world.")

My favorite word in the story has to be his stretch spelling of anybody - ineboteee!  Awesome job, little man!

Our Newest Activity

Caden has been talking about taking T-ball and Tae Kwon Do for a while now.  I gave him the option of one or the other, but not both.  He picked Tae Kwon Do.  I spent this week calling around and discovered that Tae Kwon Do is expensive compared to the other sports/activities we have done.  Ouch.  I was toying with the idea of letting the girls participate too, but it's not gonna happen until gymnastics is over.  Anyway, Caden took his first trial lesson today.  It was a "get to know you, get to know us" private lesson.  He LOVED it and I loved watching him love it.  The instructor was wonderful.  Caden got to practice some kicks and hits.  He learned a couple of stances and at the end, he broke a board (okay, so the instructor might have helped a little).

He was so proud of himself.  The DoJo (is that right?) has a 4-6  and a 7-8 class.  They are putting Caden in the 7-8 class because he listened and followed directions so well.  I think it's going to be really good for him and in the future good for the girls.  I've read a lot about martial arts and ADHD lately.

Through Caden's Lens

Caden got a real camera for Christmas.  He's been a picture taking fool.  We finally dowloaded his pictures today.  Some are pretty good.  Some made me laugh so hard.  Some need help with the focus. Tell us what you think!

Asthma

Most normal people probably don't want their kids to have asthma, but honestly, I'm glad to hear someone use the word.  Since Caden was a baby, he's been sick with a yucky cough every winter.  We would go back and forth to the pediatrician and they would always say "upper respiratory infection."  It gets really frustrating, to the poing that I don't want to take him to the doctor.  He's been coughing horribly for the last week and a half and I finally took him to Dr. K tonight.  I should stop and say I LOVE Dr. K.  She's wonderful.  When I think about her treatment of Allie and discovering the weird CO2 thing...not every doctor would have sent us for a sleep study following an ADHD diagnosis...she's just awesome.  Back to the story, tonight, she must have spent 5 minutes listening to Caden breathing in and out.  She listened to his crackling, wheezing cough.  She asked me about his history and finally said "this feels like asthma to me."  So many doctors have asked "does he have asthma?" but no one has ever said "this is asthma" to me.  It's a relief to have an idea of why he goes through this every winter.  After a breathing treatment, we were sent to the pharmacy to pick up three medicines:  prednisone, albuterol and flovent.  I'm praying we have a peaceful night.  After the long coughy nights he's been having, we could use a good night's sleep.

Caden Reading

My friend Jennifer sent Caden two Starfall workbooks.  He loves starfall.com so I knew he'd love these.  He immediately set to work on cutting and stapling the small books together.  It's so exciting to see him really reading.

The Tooth Fairie Cometh

Well Caden lost another one. He has been asking me to pull it now for several days, but I have been putting it off because last time I pulled a tooth Kelly got on to me because the tooth "wasn't ready yet". Well it came out easy peasy and with no tears. Caden wanted to put it under his pillow tonight for the Tooth Fairie, but I talked him into putting it off a night so Mommy can see the tooth too. Dan Again.

In this Room Strong The Force Is

I am in love with Caden's Star Wars room. I think it's totally awesome, if I do say so myself. Thank you to Dan and my mom who donated items.

First the before...Caden's had the same basic decor since he was born. While very cute, we were ready for more "big boy" and less "baby boy."

The after...

We took out the old, antique dresser and replaced it with an armoir that used to house our TV. Having a dresser that wasn't as deep allowed us to rearrange Caden's furniture. I also painted his name black and replaced his bedding and curtains.
We added the shelf from Ikea to hold Dan's Mr. Potato Head collection. I didn't think he was going to share his toys, but he did. Yea Dan! Caden picked out his new pictures all by himself.

The big Master Yoda on the wall is my favorite feature. He is very cool and removable so I'm hopeful we can take him with us when we leave.

I added every Star Wars detail I could find. These were happy meal toys from last year.

I bought the Yoda lights last year at Christmas time. After drilling a new hole in their backs, it just took a little clear thread to hang them perfectly from his curtain rod.

Mommy's Stored Up Silly Band Love

I mentioned last week that I bought Caden a new pack of Spiderman Silly Bands. I wear one at night to store up all my love and then give it to him to wear at school right before he gets on the bus. When he gets home, he slides it back on my wrist to store up love for the next day. It seems to help. I've seen him sit on the bus on more than one occassion and hold his silly band clad wrist up to his cheek (ala The Kissing Hand). He came home yesterday and told me his silly band had broken. I asked if he threw it away, but he said no. He'd put it in his pocket. Now, he had 4 pockets in his shorts that he knew about. Do you think he picked those pockets? No...my precious little boy picked his shirt pocket where Mommy's stored up Silly Band love could be right next to his heart! I think God blessed me the sweetest little boy in the whole wide world!

On the Bus He Went

I don't think I blogged about Friday. Before school started, I remember thinking how I'd be bored in the day with nothing to do. That sure hasn't happened. I've gone non-stop from the time the bus picks up till it drops off everyday since school started. I'm ready for a day where I do nothing and am bored (maybe today since I have a sore throat and don't feel good). Anyway, not the point of my post.

My point is that Friday was a problem. Caden has gone to school great everyday...until Friday. Last week was hard because they had Monday and Thursday off. By Friday morning, the novelty of going to school had worn off. The real work had started and he wanted none of it. He was also exhausted because he and Jaelyn have been waking up at 5:30ish and refusing to try to go back to sleep. As soon as we got to the bus stop, Caden started crying that he didn't want to go to school. I calmly explained all the reasons he had to go to school and the reasons he could stay home (throwing up and fever of which he had neither). When the bus pulled up, he clung to my legs and refused to let go. I did my best to reassure him, but there was no way he was letting go. The girls climbed on and I put Caden in the car to drive to school.

My only thought was Caden had to go to school. I can't teach him that by crying, he can stay with Mommy longer. When this happened in preschool, I rewarded him with little trinkets so I asked if he would like to earn a reward for getting out of the car nicely and going into school. His eyes lit up and he decided on a trip to the Dollar Store. He was gung ho and I was feeling confident he'd get out of the car on his own; so confident, in fact, that I got in the car line instead of parking. Big mistake! As soon as I pulled up and opened the door, he got out of his seat and froze. The tears started flowing again. I couldn't pull forward out of the long line extending all the way to the road because he was out of his seat. I jumped out and yelled to the school counselor who was thankfully standing in the doorway. She came to take Caden out of the car. He was bawling at this point, but I had to go...the line was growing by the second. I gave him a quick hug and kiss, reassured that Mrs. E would take care of him. I pulled around and parked on the road where I could see the front of his school. One of his friends walked up and Mrs. E took them both to look at posters in the hallway. He calmed down quickly (as always) and his teacher emailed me later to say he looked like he'd been crying, but was fine when he came in the classroom.

I'm not sure he totally earned the Dollar Store because I had to get him out of the car, but I fudged and let him earn his reward which leads me to this morning. He started crying while eating his breakfast. Caden said he doesn't like school because he has to write numbers in his writing notebook. Caden hasn't mastered the fine motor skills for writing yet and it's very hard for him. I managed to get him to eat and he got ready on his own; although, he did stop to take crying breaks. About 8, he started complaining about a tummy ache so we gave him "tummy medicine" (a tiny piece off of a tums) and then worked on distracting him. He was wearing shorts and it was chilly outside. I offered to pull out his winter box in hunt of pants I "hoped" would fit him. He loved going through his friend Nathan's hand-me-downs. We picked out a pair of jeans and a green camo jacket. I have no idea where the jacket came from, but it still had the tags on it. Putting on the new clothes seemed to give Caden some confidence. We turned on the TV and I gave him my Iphone to play Angry Birds while we waited for the bus.

At the bus stop, I gave him a Spider Man silly band I'd been wearing for a day. It had a lot of Mommy love stored up in it ;-). The bus pulled around...no tears. Allie climbed on first, then Caden and then Jaelyn who had been instructed to help encourage him up the steps if she needed to. He wasn't smiley when he blew me kisses and waved, but he did it! He earned 2 stickers on a sticker chart (2 for riding the bus, 1 for Mommy driving him, none for crying). When he has 4 stickers, he'll earn a prize for everyone. I'm hoping that'll help Wednesday since tomorrow is another stupid holiday. What was our school district thinking when they planned the school calendar??? It makes it so hard on the kids who thrive on routine!

THE Letter

We've been waiting for this letter all summer...the letter telling us which teacher Caden will have for Kindergarten. I'm relatively happy. We didn't get our 1st choices, but Miss K was an aide for a special education student in Jaelyn's 2nd grade class. It's her second year as a kindergarten teacher, as far as I know. Jaelyn says she's very nice and every time I've seen her, she's always had a smile on her face. She looks young and fun. Her classroom is Jaelyn's old kindergarten classroom. Caden liked hearing he'll be in his sister's old room. Both girls say they will walk him to his room everyday. They might just smother him with mothering, but I'm glad he has someone to watch out for him.

We also found out our bus number and bus stop have changed. This year, I think I'll be able to sit on our front steps to wait for the kids! We have 2 more weeks left to cram as much summer in as we can!!!!

More Reading

Silly Plunger Boy

Caden loves to go grocery shopping with me. His favorite aisle is aisle 8...home of cat food, light bulbs and best of all, plungers. I'm honestly not quite sure how his little obsession started, but he loves to suction the plungers onto the floor and pop them up. My rule is normally 3 if the aisle is not busy. They don't keep a lot in stock so sometimes he only gets to stick down 1 or 2. We get laughs and smiles while he's playing most of the time, but we've also gotten grumpy frowns. Well, last week, I was stopped looking at something at the end of the aisle and I told him he could go ahead to the plungers. When I looked up, I saw this scene...




...Count them - 8 plungers and I couldn't do anything but smile, shake my head and take a picture!

Learning to Read

My dear friend Jennifer recently shared with me about a program she did with all of her kids to teach them to read. I'll have to discuss with her why she just now decided to share this nugget of wisdom with me. I have had 2 other kids who needed help learning to read, you know ;-), but for now, I headed to the library and checked out her book. It turns out it's the same program I used when I tutored at Ferry Pass and when I taught at Montclair. Caden and I have been doing a few lessons a night and if I forget, he'll come and get me to "do our lessons." He loves it and is doing really well. He has a few site words and is getting faster and faster at phonics. Pretty soon, he'll be doing all of the decoding in his head. His kindergarten teacher is going to love me because he's going to be reading on his own by the end of the summer or maybe she'll hate me because he'll be way ahead and need to be challenged.

Here are a couple of short video clips Dan shot the other night of his "lesson."

Eden Mill - Preschool Field Trip

Caden's preschool year is winding down. It makes me a little sad. Today was his last field trip and he has 2 actual days of school plus 1 picnic and that's it. No more preschoolers for me...only big kids.

We went to Eden Mill. It's my first time on this field trip although we've hiked there one time as a family. It was a wonderful field trip. The nature center is filled with taxidermied animals that you CAN touch. Our guide brought out a snake and turtles for the kids to see and touch.

The kids put on boots and waded into the marsh to use a net to scoop up "stuff." We caught tadpoles (baby and big), snails, and bugs. I even volunteered to don my own pair of cool boots and help out.

This is Naomi and Caden. Recently, Caden was debating whether he should marry Alyssa, Maggie or Naomi. He finally decided he should marry Naomi because they like to tickle each other and laugh. I told him laughter is an important ingredient in a good marriage.

Domino Lines

I found a set of double 15 dominoes clearanced at Walmart today. My parents are coming for a few weeks in May and they love to play Mexican Trains. I couldn't pass up the deal. Caden and I opened the box and set up domino lines in the kitchen. I can remember doing this in my Grandmother's kitchen when I was little. We dumped out all 136 dominos and went to work.

Just as Caden was starting it, Zac came and laid down beside the line. His back paw started it one direction and his front paw started it the other direction.

He was nice, though, and left a few standing for Caden to knock down. Doesn't he look annoyed at me after I yelled at him? Caden locked Zac in the bathroom and we started rebuilding.

Take II was successful.

You Put a Toothbrush Where???

I need this book: Who Flushed My Toothbrush down the Toilet? : A Survivoir's Guide to Parenthood by Dave Wilson. Unfortunately, it's out of print and I don't think it'll solve the problem. I've blogged about my recent issues with the toilet. Well, the Clue mystery has been solved. It was Caden in the bathroom with a toothbrush!

Last night, as I was plunging (once again), I calmly asked the kids if anyone would like to tell me what they flushed down the toilet. I assured them I was calm and promised not to be mad. First Allie said "I flushed a towel down the toilet." My eyes got very big I'm sure, but I remained calm. "A towel? Show me what size towel, please." She got a square of toilet paper which doubles as a towel for her Polly Pockets after bath. Okay, not Allie. "Anyone else?" Caden stepped forward and said "I flushed a toothbrush down the toilet." My mind quickly inventories the kids' toothbrushes. I didn't think any were missing so I didn't totally believe him. I asked him to tell me more and he told me about getting Jaelyn's toothbrush out of the trash can to put in the toilet. What toothbrush? Jaelyn and I were stumped until Caden described it and then I believed him. We went to the dentist on Tuesday and Jaelyn got a really odd toothbrush with a small round patch of bristles on the end instead of the normal oval of bristles. I'm sure it was for her braces, but she wasn't going to use it. I threw it in the trash. Caden said he got it, put it in the toilet, closed the lid, flushed it and walked away. The timeline is right for when the toilet stopped up. So the great question remains, how to retrieve a toothbrush from a toilet?

I posted on a couple of message board and have gotten responses from plumber husbands. I didn't totally believe a toothbrush could make it past the bends, but the plumbers all say you'd be surprised what will go through the pipes. For now, I've bent the float arm up to allow the tank to fill up more. The toilet is flushing fine with the extra water. I'm hoping the water will eventually push the toothbrush out into the sewer. Wishful thinking possibly! If that doesn't work, we'll have to use an auger when Dan gets home. We have a pipe snake, but it's metal and will scratch up the bottom of the bowl. I tried with a towel, but I need an extra 2 hands to hold everything and try to push the snake through that first big bend. And if that doesn't work, the next step will be removing the toilet ourselves or big bucks to a plumber! Caden gets a mulligan this time, but if he does it again...big consequences for the Little Man!