Ice skating

We found the kids some ice skates at Play it Again Sports yesterday. Apparently all the stores think it is summer and have nothing related to winter for sale. Kailyn has a fitness fun night at her school this week and one of the activities is ice skating with BYOS (skates). She has wanted to ice skate for a long time and REALLY wanted to make sure she would be able to at the event. So, I am happy we have PIAS nearby.
Kailyn wanted to skate just like the girls do on Disney's Ice Princess and insisted that she did not want to wear snow pants or a hat. She put sparkly glitter all over her face and had her tiara all ready. She picked out a dress and tights that she thought looked good enough to skate in. We kept arguing with her that it was outside skating and that she had to wear winter attire. She settled on a lighter coat and finally figured out what I was talking about. I told her that the people on tv were using an inside skating rink. She said ok, but she wanted to go to an inside rink soon.
So, we got there and the kids had a blast and actually did really well for their first time. I think Sam giggled the whole time we were there. Kailyn quickly figured out why she needed snow pants and agreed that she would have to bulk up the next time. I was shocked at how well she took the falling because usually she would give up, but instead she kept on wanting to try. By the time we left she had already gotten better at it and was going pretty far on her own. Both of them were. Sam took smaller steps, but when the wind blew it would push him so he would glide on the ice and then you could hear the giggles.
They both did not want to leave, but it was getting really cold and my feet were starting to get frost bitten so I know theirs were too. Kailyn insisted she was not cold, but once we got close to the car admitted that she was. Here are some pictures.

We had a great time at a party yesterday

We ended up staying 7 hours and of course we are paying for it today. It was a friend of the families 7 year olds birthday party. The kids had a blast as did the adults, but one thing we could not control was sugar numbers. Kailyn's were high and all over the place. Today she is exhausted and like a fish out of water. Crying for no reason etc.. So we need to get her back on schedule. It was nice to hang out with friends though since we had not done it in so long.
Now Kailyn wants ice skates because Isabelle and all the kids go so we are going to be on a quest to find some cheap ones. Maybe at play it again sports? I guess they go regularly on the weekends at one of two places. I hope we can find some. I have fond memories of ice skating right in my backyard. I had no idea how lucky we were. I skated every day at points in the winter. I think the kids would have a blast once they figured out how to do it. I remember ice skating circles around Seth when we first met because he did not do it as much as me growing up. ;)
Kailyn thought I said we were going ice skating today so that was another meltdown. She has wanted to try for years. I never knew where to go, but now I do.

I need cream!!

Sam kept saying this over and over again this afternoon and Seth and I could not figure out what he was talking about. We would ask, "Do you want cream cheese?" NO! "Do you want sour cream"? NO!! "Me want cream"!! I said to Seth "Does he want whipped cream?" Sam pipes in NO!!
We needed some OJ and veggies for dinner, so I told Seth to take Sam and have him show him what he is talking about. They just got home and Sam brings the bag right over to show me. He said "See, I want cream". It was sugar free chocolate pudding. I said, "That is pudding, can you say pudding?" He looks at me very seriously and says no, "Dat is cream, can you say cream?" :) :) So, if Sam asks for cream you are now warned that even though it is pudding it is cream to him and the name he has given it is NOT going to change. LOL

Sam and Kindergarten

They are sending us notices and calling us on the phone about Sam possibly going to Kindergarten next year. His birthday is Sept 3 and the cut off is Oct 15. Seth signed a form in error saying that Sam will not be going next year because that was the original plan, but now we really don't know. When I got pregnant I knew we would hold him that year, but at the time we did not know he would have special needs. It all depends on what services he can get where. He is definitely not where he should be, but is doing so much better then where he started. He does not have any friends in his class and can't remember their names. At either school. I ask him and he says "I can't know?" So, now Seth has to call his caseworker and tell her that we are not sure.

In the meantime, someone from the Gorham School Dept is going to go observe him in the classroom. He does fine in the classroom,(he follows visual clues really well) but his speech delay in a room with other boys his age will definitely stand out. That and he is very immature and I don't know what his ability is to create friendships. I am scared that he would get teased too because he can't talk well. I guess one of the keys would be whether or not we could retain him if he went to K next year. I am not sure of the Gorham policy. The whole thing just makes me really nervous and I hope he improves by leaps and bounds even by then. He did last year so it is possible again.

Sleep

I really do love it. I love the feeling of being well rested and I get much more done when I feel his way. I like it the most in my house out of all of us in the family, but ironically I am the one that can't fall to sleep until late at night. Sam fights it the most. He usually throws a tantrum every night. I leave the room and then he pretends to fall asleep on the floor. This is our new routine. I then pick him up, put him in the bed and he falls asleep within minutes. This morning he decided that 4am was wakeup time. I got up with him and fed him a bowl of cereal and oatmeal. We had to pick him up at school early because I knew he would be horrendous if he did not get a nap today with three hours less of sleep. So we went and got him at his developmental preschool at 12:30.
Kailyn goes to sleep reluctantly, but really loves to sleep in in the morning. This makes it hard to wake her up sometimes. I think she is going to be a night owl like me. Its hard for us to let her sleep in too late though because we are always worried about what her blood sugars are going to be. A few mornings this week she has been in the 50's upon getting up. Seth generally goes to sleep a lot later than me, but the last couple of nights has fallen asleep earlier so it feels really strange. I guess staying home with me really wears him out. :)
Hopefully I will fall asleep soon, but at least the late night comedy shows will be on soon to keep me company and Seth is in a deep enough sleep so he is not complaining about the tapping on the keyboard.

Sam Robie Street

Today Seth and I took the kids to school together. I have not felt well and Seth has been staying home to take care of the kids until I get better and now I am trying to push myself to do more, part of that is getting back into the morning routine. Anyway, we were actually early bringing the kids to school today. We waited in the Narragansett School parking lot for a while and then I brought Kailyn in (still a little early). I waited to leave until all the kids started coming in. We then proceeded to go to Sam's school, but we were going to be early for his school too. So when we got near our house I told Seth to go around Robie Street to try and waste some time. Sam starts to pipe in and says "Yes, that Sam Robie street, everybody has a street" So I try to explain to him that not everyone has a street with their name on it, but he just looked at me like, yeah, whatever. When we got to Robie Street I showed Sam the sign and said that this is where Robie Street starts. He said, "Yes, it say Sam Robie I see da S" (the St on the sign) So all the way down the street he kept saying it is his street so I pipe in and say well, Daddy is Robie and Kailyn and Mommy are Robie, so he says "Yes, it all of dour street with a big grin" Then points to the Robie St. sign at the other end of the road.

I want to say something profound

about my love for my children, but all I can think of is what Kailyn and I say to each other often. I love you more than infinity. We both can't think of how you can love someone more than infinity and try to be the first one to say it. She does a banter on the phone with Nanie about how much they love each other too.
My favorite is how Sam says he loves me (or anyone) He has never just came out and said that he loves me, but he says this in the same tone every time after I say I love you he says, "I wuv you too". He insists on kissing me on the cheek the same way every time too.
So, I love my kids infinity and always will.
Glad my parents love me infinity too.

Kailyn's necklace

Kailyn got a necklace in her stocking from Santa for Christmas. It is a silver necklace with a heart shape attached and a fake diamond on it. I got it from the dollar bin at Target. She Absolutely loves it. It is one of her favorite presents. When she is not using it she is putting it in what she calls her "treasure box". It is a box that her cousin Leon gave her for Christmas with fairies. She wrote a note and rolled it up tight and put it in the box along with other treasures. She drew two pictures of the necklace on the note and it went like this:

This is my treasure.
I got it on my 6 Christmas
I will pass it on in my family.
I love it.

I would take a picture if I had the energy right now, but many of you have seen it.
I wish I could predict the things that she would love before I fill the stocking up and now I wish I got two because if it breaks we are in trouble. Last year I could not buy anything out of the dollar bin for her stocking because she knew everything in it. I will have to remember to keep her out of Target before Christmas again next year so I can fill her stocking with everything in the dollar bin.

Not much going on.

But the kids are having fun. They had a snow day today and got to build a huge fort with Grandpa outside. Apparently Sam designed it. It was a huge dome that they could climb into and was really cool. They were dressed up so no body part was exposed. I am up even later than usual because I took a really late nap. Kailyn went to the endo yesterday and I could not go. They are trying to adjust her schedule, but it is hard to do when you are in a school setting with one nurse in charge of 450 kids. I have not been able to deal with the logistics, but figure it will change when she gets the pump in a month anyway. Her A1C level was 7.9, which is one fraction of a point from having to see Dr. Jerry.

They will probably put her on a stricter diet, which we are having a hard time feeding her as is. But, the higher A1C is a better case for the pump. They also were giving advice from readings right after vacation and her levels are completely different in school. I want her to have snacks and lunch at the other times that the other kids are so hopefully I can feel better soon to help straighten it all out. This reminds me that I need to e-mail the teacher and tell her that I can't volunteer tomorrow.

Sam is having another language burst. It is so great to hear. He is still a year behind, but the fact that he is making progress is such a blessing compared to a year ago at this time when we did not know if he would even be able to talk or be functional. Tonight he told me he did not want to sleep in his bed because it was too cold. I will take him to Kindergarten screening in a few months because they are getting all his info now. It will be interesting to see how he does and it might give us a case to get him another year in Woodfords. We don't plan on sending him to public K because he is a Sept baby on top of the fact that his expressive language is behind. He should be talking like Kailyn. I know that he won't qualify for summer school for sure because they are really tightening the standards.

Well, that is it for now, I feel really chatty tonight and hope to be up and taking care of my family asap. Off to e-mail the teacher.