Gabe's school evaluation results

So, we've been working with Gabe's teacher and the school psychologist. And, a few weeks ago I went in to get the results of Gabe's evaluation. It still looks like he most likely has ADHD, but he also had some atypical results. Hopefully, as we work on the behavior problems the atypical traits will improve too, if not then we will have to explore other possibilities. We came up with a plan for the rest of this school year and we will make an appointment to meet Gabe's 1st grade teacher a few days before school starts. Then we will evaluate things again after 1st grade starts and we see how things go with him in school all day. This really is the short version; the meeting took over an hour. But, I feel like we will be able to help Gabe be successful through all of us working together.

Conferences

Carissa is doing excellent overall. At her first conference she was struggling with finishing all of her centers everyday, and now is completing all of them without any problems. She is a couple letters above her grade level for reading now too.

Gabriel brought up his "grades" that were lower or they stayed up if they were already there. He is still having ups and downs with his behavior, but academically he is doing wonderful. There are a few areas like in math were he is way above what they expect for this time of the year or even for kindergarten. He is also on the last letter reading level for kindergarten, so he should end the year either right on target or ahead.

Safe Kids Fair

This year we decided to go to the Safe Kids Fair, and I think we will go again. The kids had a good time, and it was free which makes it even better. We learned about fire safety and the kids got to sit in the fire truck. They got to sit in a helicopter too. Carissa and Gabe even got to get they faces painted. Gabe also got to have a picture with some Star Wars characters. We also got to watch a Karate demonstration, and afterwards Carissa and Gabe both got to learn how to break boards with their hands. Carissa took a couple tries and Gabe broke the board on his first try.

Ear infections all around

So, we had scheduled an appointmaent to have Gabe's stitches out a week after he got them. But, the day before (Sunday) Gabe woke up complaining about his ear. He had a cold for almost a week at that point so I thounght it was probably an ear infection. Kira had also been pretty grumpy with a runny nose. So I decided to call first thing in the morning to see if we could get Gabe and Kira checked out at the same time as Gabe's stitches, so I didn't have to go to the doctor over and over. Gabe had an ear infection and Kira had a double ear infection (her first one). Then by Thursday Carissa started complaining about her ear. So we went to the doctor again on Friday, and she had had an ear infection too.

Then on Monday Ben was diagnosed with strep throat. It was crazy, and I managed to stay mostly healthy throughout it all.

Crazy day

First of all, I dropped Gabe off with my Mom and then headed to the doctor with Carissa and Kira. They both had check ups, and Kira had vaccines as well. Check ups went well, both girls are healthy and doing well. Carissa is 45 lbs. (13th percentile) and 45.5 inches (23rd percentile). And, we have the option to try medicine if we want, since Carissa is still wet every night. Kira is 15 lbs. 15 oz. (49th percentile) and 26.25 inches (60th percentile). Kira took her binky when it was time for her shot, and she didn't make a sound or move. She did awesome and didn't fuss at all.

Then we went to pick up Gabe, and visit for a minute. My mom said that right after we left Gabe hit his head while on the trampoline, and she initially thought he may need stitches. But, then she thought maybe it was more of a scratch after cleaning him up. So, she wanted me to look at it before we left since it had a bandaid on it. When we took the band-aid off, I decided it was worth at least having the doctor look at it.

As soon as the doctor saw Gabe, he said it looked like he would need about 2 stitches. He ended up getting 3 stitches. I held Gabe's hands and talked to him through the numbing shots, and cleaning. He was very upset about it, and I really felt bad for him. Then the doctor started to try stitches and Gabe said it hurt. The doctor got the numbing shot again. I started to feel like I was going to pass out, and thought I need to get to the floor and say someting. Then I woke up.

I was standing and holding Kira when I passed out, so I was really worried about her being hurt. Apparently, I held her really well and kind of squated down before I tipped over. She was scared but ok. I think I scared Gabe even more too. So, we're all ok, but my lower neck really hurts because I hit it when I fell.

Seven!

I really can't believe that Carissa is 7 already! I feel like if I blink she will be driving and moving out. I also don't feel old enough to have a 7 year old, but that is another story. 7 years ago I spent 18 hours in labor waiting to meet my baby girl. We had a bit of a rough start to things after that, but we made it through. And, Carissa has turned into a beautiful, bright, caring little lady. She is an awesome big sister, and way more responsible than she needs to be. Sometimes she needs a little reminder to enjoy being a kid. But, she also loves playing outside and in. She is also turning into quite the little artist.

Appointment with School Psychologist

I set up a meeting with the School Psychologist at Gabe's school for today. I wanted to just kind of chat with her about what we could do to help Gabe in school and what kind of resources are available. Really, as far as academics are concerned he is doing fine. But, he does have some trouble spots with transitions, controlling his body, boundaries, and he may start seeing a speech pathologist. Gabe frequently uses descriptions instead of the names of things. And, that can lead to some very long and sometimes frustrating conversations. For example, the other day instead of saying the kitchen counter, he told me "where we put the dirty dishes." Another time he didn't know what the dishwasher basket for bottles pieces was called. So he told me, "it is green and white and it is on top of the thing that makes the things with yummy stuff inside that you put frosting on." The basket was on top of our toaster oven which we use to make toaster strudels.

For now, we will hold off on doing an evaluation of Gabe through the school until he is 6. But, we are going to continue working on boundaries, and following directions. Also, the School Psychologist is going to observe Gabe in class and work with his teacher too. It is really great the we got to have this meeting today with the Psychologist, and Gabe's teacher, and Ben and I were both able to go as well. Working together hopefully, we can help Gabe with his challenges.

Christmas

I'm a little behind on this. Anyway, we spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house and we opened up presents from each other there that night. We had dinner, and played a game as well. It was a lot of fun, and the kids loved their presents. I think this year is the most excited Gabe has ever been waiting for Christmas and also in getting his presents. He loved his presents, and was more excited with each one. We celebrated Christmas morning at home, which was nice. Again, the kids were very happy with their presents and were even very excited about the new tooth brushes that Santa put in their stockings and they couldn't wait to brush their teeth. Kira enjoyed chewing on her new toys, clothes, or anything she could grab. She had a nice first Christmas, which included a huge blowout in her fancy Christmas clothes on Christmas Eve right after we finished opening presents. I had to give her a bath. That is what I get for dressing up my baby.

Christmas Eve


Christmas morning

Visit with Family from CA

About a week before Christmas, my Aunt and Uncle and 2 cousins came to visit. We had a big family dinner with everyone who lives in Salt Lake area and them at my parents house. Carissa and Gabe had lots of fun playing with Kailee. And Carissa and Kailee even got to have a sleep over together before they left.

Kira updates

This year for Christmas we decided to get Kira an exersaucer. Only problem was that we didn't have anywhere to hide/store it until Christmas so we let her have it early. Besides, she doesn't know about Christmas and presents yet anyway. We've been using it for a few weeks now, and she is figuring out how to work the toys. She seems to like it. Kira has a little frog/blankie/lovie and she will cuddle with it and rub it when she goes to sleep. Also, she will take and likes a pacifier. It is so nice. Gabe and Carissa never would take a paifier, and I tried every version there is with them. Last update for the day is that since Kira is now 4 months old we gave her rice cereal for the first time today. She had a lot of it come back out, but she seemed to like it. She would open her mouth for bites and even leaned forward to get a bite. I think that she liked finally getting to try something other than milk.

New haircuts

Today, Carissa and Gabe both got new haircuts. Carissa wanted her hair cut short, to her chin. Gabe wanted a Mohawk or fauxhawk. Carissa's hair was probably half way down her back before it was cut, and I was kind of sad to see it go. But, it is her hair and it will grow back. They were both very excited and happy with their hair cuts.

Christmas tree

This weekend we finally got our tree up and the kids decorated it. I guess at this point it is kind of a family tradition now. The kids decorated the tree all on their own again. They use the step stool to reach the higher places, and the only thing that either Ben or I do is put the star on top of the tree. They love doing it, and I think they do a pretty good job.

Kira's hair

Kira has so much hair and I love it. At 1 year old Carissa didn't have as much hair as Kira at 3 1/2 months old. Well, Kira's hair finally got to where it was in her eyes so I gave her a little trim.
Before


After


Also, I love her curls.

Skiing

I finally got a chance to watch Carissa ski, and she is doing a great job. I guess Gabe kind of forgot how to ski over the summer, so he is going to take another ski lesson sometime this year. Gabe really wants to ski though. Carissa actually went down a black diamond on her second time out this year, so I guess she didn't forget how to ski over the summer.

Gabe's evaluation

So, we took Gabe in for an evaluation about 2 years ago when he was 3, because of the problems I was having with him. At that time he was diagnosed as "most likely ADHD." We did some counseling and a parenting class and it helped a lot. Then the last few months things have been getting worse at home and with him in kindergarten. So, we went for an evaluation the week before Thanksgiving, and got some questionnaires for Ben and I, and for Gabe's teacher. When I looked over the one that the teacher filled out it made me really sad, and Ben got kind of defensive. I guess things are worse at school than we thought. And I'm glad I've had some time to get to know Gabe's teacher before this or I might feel that she was "out to get him."

Then we had a meeting on Monday the week of Thanksgiving to go over the questionnaires. And, it seems pretty certain between both appointments that Gabe does have ADHD. We started going to a weekly peer interaction group to help Gabe interact with his peers. And, we will be finding out what the school has available to help him as well as soon as we can. So far, Gabe is really liking the peer interaction group and they have a group for the parents at the same time to help us with information and such.

Conferences/Report Cards

This week we had parent teacher conferences and got Carissa's and Gabe's report cards. They are both doing well and have improved from the beg. of the year. Carissa had almost all 4's and Gabe had mostly 3's and 4's, but he did have one 1. Gabe also had a couple of NI's (needs improvement).

Carissa's teacher said that she is doing really well and doesn't have any concerns. Carissa is above level on her reading and hand writing, and on level for her spelling and math. She does very high quality work, but she doesn't finish all of her work. So, a goal for Carissa is to work harder on finishing more of her work without losing the quality.

Gabe's teacher loves his enthusiasm for everything, and he "keeps her in stitches." Gabe is picking up on everything academically really quickly and she isn't worried about that at all. But, Gabe needs to work on using his words more when gets angry. He also gets distracted and kind of does things on his own terms. We told Gabe's teacher that we are thinking to call about getting Gabe evaluated again, and that when had it done we were told that he most likely had ADHD. She said that she wouldn't be surprised by it if he does, and she is willing to work with whatever we decide to do to help Gabe.

Pumpkins

Smiles


Silly faces

Red Ribbon Week

This week was red ribbon week at Carissa and Gabe's school so they had a wear red day, wear pajamas day, a crazy hair day, and a costume day. It was interesting listening to Gabe explain to me how his class doesn't do drugs at school, and talk to me about what they had been talking about at school. But, they also had fun getting dress differently this week. We have also as a family decided that we don't like colored hair spray, after sore throats and headaches for Ben and myself and the kids having it up their noses and in their ears. We were as well ventilated as we could be inside the house, but it wasn't good enough. Here are some pictures of the kids from this week.

2 months old

Kira is 2 months old today, and we had her 2 month check up today as well. She is doing very well with her growth and development, and we talked about her exposure to chicken pox. So far no chicken pox spots, but I will keep watching her for a while. If she gets chicken pox I can let our doctor's office know about it and we can give her some medicine to make to a little easier on her. Hopefully, Kira won't get chicken pox though. It was just bad timing for Ben to get Shingles, but that isn't something that you can control. Also now that Kira is 2 months old we don't have to worry about taking her in for a fever anymore. We can just use our own judgement. Anyway, Kira's weight was 11 lbs. 2 oz and her height was 23 1/4 inches. That puts her at the 59th% for weight and 83rd% for height. Also, Kira got her vaccinations and she did really well. She was sleeping so peacefully by the time the nurse came back with the shots, so she was woke up with a needle poking her leg. Not the nicest way to wake up. She got 3 shots in her legs and then an oral vaccine, which must taste pretty good. After Kira calmed down a little from the shots, drinking the oral vaccine got her to calm down the rest of the way. Overall, she cried very little. And, she was happy and smiling during her exam. She is such a bright and cheerful little girl, and we love her so much.

Eye Exam

Gabe had his annual eye exam on Monday. He did well with his appointment which was great considering how long we were there and that I had Kira with us. Good news is that the range of movement in Gabe's eye is still staying consistent. So, 3 years and about 5 eye exams later we are still in the best case scenario. If things continue this way when Gabe is about 8 or 9 we could start doing eye exams less often than once a year. But, for now they still want to catch it quick if something does change. This is the first time that Gabe got upset about having his eyes dilated though. He started crying on the way home, because one of his eyes was "foggy."