What's the code?

Aidan and I play a silly game. It's called "What's the code?" We will wrestle around and I will wrap my hand around his leg or arm or get him in a big bear hug. I will pretend that my hands are stuck and that I can't move. While he is giggling his head off he will ask, "what's the code"- meaning "what is the code to unlock your hands/ body?" I will then give him a math riddle. For example- it is the sum of 2 and 3 or it is the number that comes between 27 and 29 or it is the number that comes before 200. He has to answer the question correctly to unlock my hands. If he gets it wrong, I answer "that is incorrect" ( sometimes in a cool robot voice) and he has to anwer it correctly to unlock my hands. Sometimes he "locks me" and he is the one that gives me the riddle and I have to answer it correctly. I know I am a nerd and leave it to a teacher to turn a wrestling game into a math game, lol!

Aidan really struggles with being able to sit. It is a problem at meal time or anytime he has to sit and complete a task or sit and listen. The boy just can not sit! I have experimented with letting him sit on a therapy ball at meal time and doing some heavy sensory imput before meal time. His OT thinks it is sensory related and she is working with him on it too. It was really apparent to me that it is a problem yesterday when I went to his school and helped out with his Valentines party. There were 23 other kids in the class and he was the only one not sitting and enjoying the goodies. He sat for about 5 minutes and then he was up wondering around. It didn't seem to bother the teachers but is sure bothered me! I talked to his teacher and asked her if it was something that he did often at school and she said he did. She said he does fine when she is working with him in a small group but as soon as she moves to another table he is standing up. I think that is going to be a HUGE problem in kindergarten and it is one of the reasons we are still considering transitional kindergarten. On the other hand I don't know if it is something that "giving him the gift of time" will make a difference. It may be something that takes years to change or maybe he is just going to be a kid that stands all the time.

In an effort to help him with this issue I ordered him a "lap pad" this morning. It is a heavy pad that he puts on his lap when he is sitting. The theory is that it will give him the extra sensory input that he is craving and will make him sit longer. At this point I am willing to give anything a shot to help him. Anyone have any suggestions? I really feel that he is more than ready for kindergarten in so many areas and I am afraid he is going to become a behavioral problem in Kindergarten if I send him to transitional kindergarten next year due to boredom.


Here is the lap pad.
and here is the pattern of the material I chose to cover it. I hope he loves it!

T ball

Yesterday Aidan had his first day of T ball. It was a cold and damp morning but that didn't stop any of our enthusiasm. When we arrived there most of the other kids were already there "warming up" and practicing hitting balls of the tees. I was really surprised at how well some of the kids were doing hitting the ball! They had great form and accuracy. Clinton and I saw this and just kind of looked at each other and told Aidan to go give it a shot. He walked up to the t and wasn't sure what to do (duh! we should have practiced with him earlier). Clinton ran over and helped him out the best that he could ( but remember he grew up in a country where cricket is preferred over baseball). We both (ok maybe just me) thought- oh boy this is going to be a long 8 weeks!

Soon enough the coach called the kids over to the "dugout". They introduced themselves and did some warm up exercises. The coach then told them to go to home plate- Aidan was the leader of the pack and had no idea where he was talking about (doh!) but he figured it out soon enough. :0) The coach then had them walk around all the bases and repeat the name of the bases as they walked around. They then took turns individually running around the bases. Just for the record Aidan did a GREAT job doing this and one of the other kids started with 3rd base. Ha! They then ran to first base, practiced running backwards to second, and "side running" or whatever it is called to third, and then running home. They practiced making "alligator hands" and catching ground balls and practiced throwing. The coach showed Aidan the proper technique to throw the ball by having him put his foot forward, pointing with his left hand where he wanted to throw the ball, and then throwing. It took some practice but he finally got it! His throws weren't that bad!

Next up was batting. Once again the coach showed Aidan the proper technique by showing him how to do "railroad tracks" with his feet, batter up, keep your eye on the ball, and swing. By George my boy got it and made contact with the ball! Yippee!! They practiced this for awhile and he had some decent hits!

They finished by practicing doing a "homerun". They hit the ball and then ran around all the bases- again one of the kids started with third base.

So I was uneasy at the beginning as to how he was going to do. All I had to do was trust my kid and trust the coach and he ended up doing great! I am excited for the next 7 weeks!
sitting in the "dugout"
warming up....

running backwards. I particularly LOVE this exercise as it is good for his toe walking.

Dad attempting to assist him when we first arrived.
practicing "alligator hands" and throwing.
look at that form!

making his "home run"
"Hands in" at the end.

Valentine Exchange

I hosted a Valentine exchange today for our mom's group at a park close to our house. The kids decorated bags and handed out Valentines- and oh played in the dirt, creek, and ran around making up games with various types of balls. I love this particular park because it has the perfect recipe for kids- dirt, sticks, rocks, and water. There is an open grassy field to play with sporting equipment. I also like it because it changes things up from your typical park around here with sand, a play structure, and a riding path for bikes and trikes. Have I mentioned that I love California because of all the parks (and well maintained at that) they have to offer! LOVE it! I of course also love the park close to my moms house in Tn- it is the best I have ever seen. :0)

It was extemely HOT today but I think everyone had a great time!

getting ready for our friends to get here.
climbing trees....
one of the creative moms brought these cupcakes...
handing out valentines....
see- sticks, water, dirt.

playing some crazy game they made up. :0)

Dentist

getting xrays...

Yesterday I took Aidan to the dentist. I took him to a pediatric dentist when he was 2 and it was a complete joke. The guy didn't even spend 20 seconds in his mouth and told us everything looked good but he needed to ditch the passie. He didn't even bother counting his teeth. I haven't taken him back since then because I knew I wouldn't be taking him back to the same place. I finally met a dentist back in the fall that I liked. He made me feel at ease and seemed like he would be really good with kids as I watched him interact with Aidan, so last week I finally made an appointment.

I was more worried about how Aidan would do compared to the shape of his teeth. We work hard brushing them. About a year ago he really started letting me get in there and do a decent job.We spend 20 seconds on the top back, bottom back, top back other side, bottom back other side, and the fronts. That is about a minute and 40 seconds I spend brushing them. You are supposed to brush for 2 minutes and we are working towards that amount of time. I was shocked to learn that he had 3 cavities! The dentist said that his teeth looked to be in good shape except for the front top 3. I discussed with her and we finally figured out it was probably from giving him milk when he goes to bed. :0( Aidan still gets milk at bedtime after he brushes his teeth. It is more habit than anything. Drinking milk was always one way of getting calories in the kid whenever he refused to eat so it made me feel like at least he was getting something! I talked to him and let him know that there would be no more milk at bedtime but he could have water. So far he has been great and it hasn't been an issue! He was so good at the dentist getting xrays and while the dental hygienist was cleaning his teeth! I hope he does as well next month when he goes back for his fillings.

Swim Lessons

This week I decided that it was time to get Aidan back into swim lessons. The last time he had lessons , he was 2 almost 3 years old. It was a really cold June and the water was freezing cold. He did ok in the classes because he has a "pleaser" type nature and wanted to do well for the instructor and me, but has had an aversion to water since that time. It really makes me nervous that he doesn't know how to swim because there are so many pools and not to mention the ocean in Southern California. I want him to learn to love the water and more importantly be able to save himself if he should ever fall in.

Our neighbors recommended a swim school in the area so while Aidan was in school on Thursday I went and signed him up. He had his first lesson yesterday and I was really nervous about how he would react knowing water is not his favorite thing. When he first got introduced to Mr. Matt his swim instructor he reacted how I thought he would, he ran away and hid. I talked to him for a minute and coaxed him back into the pool area. I attempted to get him to sit on the side of the pool but he refused. After a minute he decided that he wanted to sit down by himself. The second he got in the water he was a happy camper. The water is very WARM there and this made him happy! It also helped that he is in class with another little boy who is also 4 years old. The instructor/ student ratio is 1 to 3. Micah's sister was also in the group but she is an independent swimmer and spent a lot of time swimming lengths of the pool. I watched from the observation area and saw lots of smiles coming from him which made me happy. Mr. Matt said he did great. He was a little nervous so he really didn't push him to much but it was a great first day! At the end I asked Aidan if he had fun and he said, "yes, I want to swim every day!" yay!

Spending some time in the play area before class. The entire place is geared towards kids which I love!

checking out the toys...

Getting ready to get in the pool. This was taken before his class actually started.
Hey mom! I like it!
Aidan and Mr. Matt...
Aidan, Mr. Matt, and Micah. I'm not sure why Mr. Matt looks like a sour puss, he certainly didn't come off that way. lol!

Vision Board 2012

On New Years day Clinton and I had a Vision Board party. We invited friends over and we all thought about our goals for 2012 and went to work cutting out pictures and words that inspired us from magazines and creating our vision boards. For those of you who don't know what a vision board is, it is really a visual representation of your goals and dreams. Clinton has a huge vision board that he created about 5 years ago that literally takes up a couple of walls. It is one that is more about his goals and dreams for the next 20 years. He sometimes puts it up in the training room when he does trainings. It is very inspiring to see. I had never created one before, so I was really excited to do it. We have put them up on the wall beside our bed so it is the first thing we see in the morning and at night.

Clinton and I were looking at our boards the other night and about half of the things I put on there have already come to fruition! It is only the beginning of February! A lot of mine had to do with getting organized. While I still have a way to go, my pantry is so organzied that even Aidan knows where to put things and he helps me put away groceries! Also, we did a big cleanup of our personal belongings in the garage ( the business stuff still needs to be done) and I am very happy how it all turned out. I still need to work on our closets ( for the life of me I can not keep our bedroom closet straight) and Aidans play room. I organized Aidans books, which was a huge job because he must have three to four hundred books! A lot of them were from my teaching days that he inherited. Also on the board were pictures of snow, a new car, and a whales tail. Check, Check, and Check! I still haven't even started with the health and fitness portion and need to get on the ball with it. I think when your 4 year old asks you, "Mommy when are you going back to the gym?" that it is time! I also have a few big projects on there that I will write more about later ;0)

What can I say? Vision Boards rock!

41 and balloon parade

Yesterday was my birthday! To celebrate we did one of my favorite past times - whale watching! The last time we went whale watching Aidan was about 19 months old and it wasn't very successful. This time he enjoyed watching for the whales but spent most of the time hanging out with his dad on the deck upstairs. We got to see a few Fin Whales (which grow to be about 90 feet long), a few humpback whales, and a pod of about 100 rare dolphins. The dolphins were all scarred because they are the type that fight big squid for food. They were bigger than your typical bottle nose dolphin and appeared white because of the scarring. Call me a big nerd because I love whale watching and ocean wildlife but it is true. I got a very special birthday present this year- a new car! It wasn't an expected gift and lets just say the hubby hadn't intended on purchasing one, but my car has been having major problems and it was necessary. I absolutely love, love, love my car. It feels like I am driving a spaceship with the fancy schmancy onboard computer. Thanks Clinto!

Between Christmas and New Years we went to the balloon parade and I forgot to blog about it and post pictures. We drove to a trolley station and then took the trolley into town as an extra treat for Aidan. It was an awesome day!

Mama's birthday- whale watching.
I totally forgot to take pics of the whales. Here is a really bad shot of a couple of the dolphins.
Taking the trolley downtown to watch the parade.
Hanging with dad on the trolley
one of my favorite pics from the day! Watching the parade.
A few of the balloons.


These days Aidan sticks out his tongue anytime you attempt to get a picture of him.

*sigh* look how grown up he looks....
Riding the trolley home.