The magic of being 5

I have been very impressed with both how Carissa did at her 5 year old check up and at her most recent dentist appointment. She did great at the doctor's appointment and is healthy, but she did need to get 3 shots to finish getting ready for kindergarten and I really wasn't sure how that was going to go. The last shot she had was when she was 3 and she fought like crazy to not get it, so at her 4 year old check up they told me that I could either finish her shots then or wait until her 5 year old check up. So, I let Carissa make the decision and she wanted to wait until she was 5, and that was fine with me. Every so often she would talk about looking forward to being 5 and we would talk about how she would get shots when she was 5. So, I'm not sure what the exact reason is but I was so happy and proud of Carissa when she got all 3 shots without any fuss or complaint or anything. The bad part was that by bed time she was limping around the house because the one shot had made her leg so sore. Then she even went and laid down in bed before bed time, but she was pretty much back to normal the next day.

Then, this week Carissa and Gabe had their dentist appointment and they both did great. Gabe so far has done great every time he has been to the dentist, but Carissa has had a hard time and has completely protested in the past. For that reason we also make sure that Ben and I can both go to the appointment so that one of us can completely focus on Carissa. This time, for the first time ever, Carissa did her entire appointment. She did x-rays, flossing, brushing, fluoride, and the check up with the dentist. She was still nervous, but she did it. We were so proud of her for doing it all. They both got new toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss as well as a prize.

So, on both of those occasions Carissa told me that she did a good job, because she is 5. Evidently, turning 5 was a magic switch. Only down side so far is that she is starting to put restrictions on how much affection I can give her in public now. When I tried to hug her after her check up at the dentist she pushed me away and told me, not now. I can't believe how big she is now.

Gymnastics

I finally did it and got around to getting Carissa and Gabe into a gymnastics class. The kids and I have been talking about it for quite a while now, but for one reason or another we couldn't do it. They both really liked watching gymnastics on the Olympics. Also, after I took Gabe out of preschool at the end of November I decided that I wanted to have him in an athletic class or classes instead to give him more outlets for his energy. Then I want to keep him going in something when he starts preschool in the fall again. So far they have had 4 classes and they both really like it and they are very excited to go. They have both also had one injury during class and after getting some love from me went right back to what they were doing. I was very proud of them for going back and giving it another try right after slipping and getting hurt. Also, for the moment they are both in a preschool age class together but they told me that since Carissa is 5 now that she could move up to the next class whenever we are ready if there is an opening.

Carissa's Birthday

This like my last post is getting done later than expected, but I just got really busy and I'm using my 3 day weekend to get caught up on everything. This year for Carissa's birthday we did friend party and then a family dinner. This was the first time that Carissa had a birthday party with some of her friends from school. It was a learning experience for me, but I think that everything went pretty well. We had the party at Chuck E. Cheese and Carissa had 4 of her friends from school come out of the 12 kids in her class that we invited. I thought that more kids might come, but didn't mind at all that there ended up being less. Carissa had a really good time there with the exception of when she was the center of attention in the dining area. I think that it took her by surprise and that she wasn't sure what to do.


After Chuck E. Cheese, it was rest/nap time and then on to gymnastics class. After gymnastics we had a family dinner at Applebees, Carissa's pick. At Applebees they sang to Carissa and gave her a free sundae, which she could actually eat this year. (It contains eggs.) Then we went home to get ready for bed and school the next morning.

Birthday cake

This year for Carissa's birthday I decided to try to make a cake that was egg free and more interesting/decorated than just a rectangle. So I bought a metal cake mold in the shape of a castle to make a princess castle cake. As it turned out I didn't need to make it without eggs, but I still made the castle cake. When it came time to turn the cake over and have it come out of the mold only half of it came out, that was my first problem. Then I tried to decorate it and it turns out that I had frosting that wasn't good for decorating, that was my second problem. So, I learned a couple of lessens for the next time that I make a cake and I think that Carissa's cake turned out okay. Carissa thought that her cake was wonderful and I figured that her opinion is really the only one that matters at the moment. I included two pictures taken on different settings on my camera, I can't decide which setting looks better. If you think one looks better than the other let me know.

Eggs

So, now that we have had to monitor all of Carissa's food since she was about 1 1/2 years old for her allergies to eggs and walnuts we hopefully have good news. Since the beg. we were told by the doctor that a lot of kids will out grow the egg allergy by the time they are 5 years old, so as her birthday got close I started counting the days and hoping. It is just so sad to tell your child that they can't have cake at their friends birthdays or other similar events. We tried to still make things nice for her, but it wasn't the same as actually getting to eat what everyone else was eating. So, this past weekend we decided to start experimenting. We rubbed egg on her skin and nothing happened. Then we let her eat pancakes made with eggs, and she was fine. Since then she has tried a doughnut, a toaster strudel, a Twinkie, ice cream at Applebee's, and I made her birthday cake with eggs this time. So far she hasn't had any reactions, and she is so excited to get to try all the new foods. She now knows that she doesn't like toaster strudels or Twinkies, but at least this way it is her own preference. We still have to watch out for walnuts, but that is a lot easier than eggs. And for now I'm still want to wait a little while before telling her school that eggs are okay.

Five

It has been five years since Carissa was born. It seems to have gone by so fast yet I know that there have been days where time just couldn't go fast enough. Carissa has been a wonderful person to have in my life and I'm sure that she will continue to be. She has pushed me to learn new things and to think differently about things. By the time she was about 28 hours old she had me feeling like a complete failure at being her mom. (I think hormones may have contributed to that as well.) But, from there things got a little better and within a few days I knew that Carissa knew what she needed even if it didn't fit with what I had learned about babies previously or what any doctor said. Then things got a lot better.It has been a bit of a bumpy road, but things keep going and overall still get better. Carissa is very bright and loves learning new things. She is also very social and more outgoing than I have ever been. She is a great big sister and looks out for her brother. Also she likes to try to reason her way to whatever it is that she wants, which I rather enjoy listening to and sometimes she makes more sense than we do. It has been a great adventure being Carissa's mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am both sad and excited to think that she will be starting kindergarten soon, my baby is just getting so big.

Dinosaurs

Last Friday, January 16th Carissa, Gabe, my parents, Josh, Alyssa, and I all went to see Walking with Dinosaurs Live. It was a lot of fun and the kids both really liked it. I couldn't take pictures during the show, because they said that flash photography might upset the dinosaurs. But, it was definitely neat to see dinosaurs that were life sized and moved. Gabriel was disappointed though that he couldn't actually walk with the dinosaurs, so the name of the show is a little misleading to a 3 year old.