Whirlwind

Whew, March is almost over. As I suspected, it was a fast month. Some things went according to plan, some were surprises. Such is life. As happened today when I was only at work for an hour when I got called to pick Keely up from school due to a belly ache. Not a great start to a Monday. I intended to do a series of posts about various events and happenings but as usual, the plans fell by the wayside. So here's a hodgepodge of what has happened this month in no particular order.

--We had a death in the family. One of Quinn's frogs is no longer with us. RIP Flipper (I think...). Quinn was upset and cried a bit but he's bounced back. The lone frog seems to be doing okay alone.

--The kids are now in the 4th (last!) quarter of the school year and we attended spring conferences with their teachers. They got report cards as well. Quinn is doing well, he got an Outstanding Quarter Improvement award (a free kids' meal at Village Inn). The only thing he needs to work on is handwriting (as usual). He is finishing up his mammal report on the platypus. I can't wait to see how it turns out! Keely is doing really well in Kindergarten. She is so ready for first grade now. She is bored in EDP causing her to misbehave occasionally but her teacher says that it's quite the opposite in class time. I'm so happy with her progress and counting the days until the end of this school year so she can be in full time school come Fall.

--Quinn had his First Communion workshop on Saturday. I attended with him and it was a nice time to spend with just the two of us. Msgr. Bob made us laugh several times and it was very informative (I even learned -- or refreshed my memory -- on a few things). We also started his banner, watched a movie and he even got to practice taking Communion with an unconsecrated host. It's such an exciting step in Catholicism and I can't believe he is old enough for it already!

--Quinn had his first soccer game on Saturday. They lost 2-0 but they started to come alive in the second half. Keely has her first game tomorrow.

--Keely continues with ice skating lessons and just loves it. We also attended an open skate session when Nana was here. She loves dancing to the music while skating.

--We decided to take the 'wait and see' approach with Quinn's teeth. We are still encouraging him to do his tongue exercises and reminding him to keep his mouth closed when he eats (good manners as well as good tongue positioning!). We're hoping his open bite corrects itself as he grows. I really hope that is the best decision, but only time will tell.

I think that's about it. We're rolling into April here and hoping for some real consistent Spring weather. I'm so sick of the cold!

Slainte

St. Patrick's Day 2010 has come and gone without much fanfare...I'm not sure why but we just didn't go to a lot of fuss this year. Probably because it was mid-week and hard to find time to make a traditional Irish meal. The only thing we did was participate in the parade as we did last year. This time, I was in charge of organizing and setting up the float for the kids' school. It turned out to be quite stressful in the last little bit, but that was mostly because I was also stressed at work at the same time. Needless to say, I am glad it's over and I don't think I will volunteer to run this effort again (for reasons to be stated later). The weather was not great this year, starting out in the upper 40s and cloudy and ending up in the high 30s and rainy. We were lucky to be Float #44 meaning we started down the parade route earlier than last year. That was also lucky because we didn't get rained on until the end of the parade route. By the time we'd circled back to almost where we started, we were soaking as was the float decorations. So that's the reason I will not volunteer again to lead this effort next year...since the decorations were ruined by rain, we are mostly starting from scratch. Keely was a good sport in the beginning but by the time the rain started, she was tired of standing and waiting. James ended up carrying her on his shoulders for the length of the parade route.

As usual, I hardly saw Quinn once we arrived because he was with his buddies the whole time.
Yes, that is me up on the float working hard on the balloons in the last few minutes before liftoff.
Keely and her friend Olivia posing with Ronald before the parade (and the rain).
Thanks to Nana for taking pictures at the parade. On the actual holiday, we had mashed potatoes and carrots because James felt like "we should at least have mashed potatoes" :) No corned beef this year though, but I am making some black and tan brownies and maybe some Irish Soda Bread tomorrow.

Second Opinion

Earlier this week, we took Quinn to a second orthodontist. This one is closer to our house and much less "jazzy" than the first...although they do have some video games in the waiting area as well as a very nice fish tank. The doctor was also older and perhaps that contributed to his assessment. He confirmed the first diagnosis, tongue thrust causing an open bite and the front teeth to not close properly because the tongue occupies the empty space. But he concluded Quinn does not need braces. What he did recommend though is something I've never heard of...a tongue crib. This is much like it sounds, a metal grid like piece that sits behind his front teeth and acts like a crib, holding his tongue back in the mouth and allowing the teeth to close properly. What the crib also does is re-train his tongue to sit properly in his mouth. At his age, the tongue should re-train itself in the time that the crib is in place. If we wait until he is a teenager, the thrust will be harder to re-train. Since Quinn has this tongue thrust not caused by thumb sucking, he will likely need it to be in place for 6 months (thumb suckers only need it for 3 months on average). If 6 months passes and the teeth haven't closed on their own, he will need temporary braces but the doctor said that most likely his teeth will grow together on their own when given the opportunity. This is a completely different verdict and now we are left wondering which is right. I feel this is a much more reasonable approach than outfitting him with a set of braces immediately. The cost is much less ($400 versus $1200 out of our pocket) so that's obviously a plus. I plan to call his dentist tomorrow as apparently they can also install these tongue cribs. The tongue thrust has become more and more obvious to me now that I am aware of it and I really think we need to do something about it at this point. But it seems there is always second guessing and given some time, perhaps it would work itself out. Ah, the joys of being a parent -- a lifetime of worrying once they are born. More to come as we discuss the options and make a decision...opinions and similar experiences welcome!

The Olympics May Be In Her Future...

Probably not but maybe with about a million more hours of practice! Keely started ice skating lessons on Saturday morning. She was super excited, even showering before hand and getting her hair pulled up just right in a tight bun. She looked the part, that's for sure. She may have been a little cold but fashion cannot be sacrificed for temperature. The lessons are about 45 minutes, the first 30 being organized with an instructor and the last 10-15 for free skating and practicing the skills learned. Keely did great, jumping right on the ice. She has always loved to ice skate and seems to naturally pick it up better than Quinn...I've always been able to skate with her because she actually holds herself up and tries. Quinn resembles a limp fish so not so much with him. Anyways back to Keely. She learned how to fall first. That was cute. Then she practiced going both forwards and backwards across the width of the ice rink. She took the whole 10 minutes at the end to practice her new skills. She's so happy that she can do it without holding anyone's hand. She said to me, "Mama, now when we go ice skating I can do it by myself so your arm won't hurt after!" :) She saw one of the other instructors do a spin move and her mouth dropped to the floor. She asked her how she does that and the girl told her to practice hard and maybe Keely can do that one day. Something to strive for :) So she's on her way...5 more lessons to go and she's excited to pass the basic class and move on up.

What Possesses Her?!?!

We had a rough start to this week with Keely. I walked into EDP after a long Monday at the office and was greeted with that look. You know, the look saying that my child was bad today and I am in for the speech of what she did wrong. I dislike getting that look. I'm sure everyone does!

So what did she do this time? She took a pencil into the bathroom and wrote on the wall and the inside of the stall. She was sent to the principal's office...which I believe is her 3rd time there this year! The talk she recieved from the principal did sink in -- Keely told me a good bit about what she said and I think she really got it. They'd saved the damage so that I could see it and then Keely had to clean it. It really wasn't all that bad and we were able to get it off easily with some cleaner. I was steaming though. I have such trouble with my emotions and I just get in a funk, letting it affect everything. It took me a good hour or so just to calm myself down. I even considered letting Keely win and not going to the gym that night (she enjoys the Kids' Club and I wanted to punish her). I did take away her favorite earrings, her DVD player watching and hair curling. I know that those sound like strange things but she's just not your typical child. She doesn't have favorite toys or even games...her DS or TV is not even a threat. So that was Monday.

On Tuesday, I get the look again. At this point, I don't even want to walk in to pick them up. The report today was much more minor in nature and partly the school's fault. They have Avon catalogs in EDP since the P.E. teacher sells it on the side. Keely took a catalog into the gym, opened to the bra page and was flaunting it in the boys' faces. It's actually kind of humorous typing that. She wasn't intending anything bad, I think she just got caught up with the other kids' reactions. No additional punishments because really the school shouldn't have those catalogs there.

The rest of the week has been fine so hopefully we just had a momentary blip in the good times with her. She continues to do excellent in Kindergarten class and I know she is ready for first grade now. She really enjoys her work and does her homework very well and very neatly. In fact, she's almost anal about her writing (this from the child who wouldn't write her name at all going into Pre-K). As for her behavior in EDP, I don't want to make excuses but she is there an awful lot, too much actually. This is her second year with only 3 hours of school and the rest of the time there. Quinn only had one year and I think that was enough. She is bored there, and when kids are bored they do things they shouldn't. Thank goodness we are almost at the end of this year. Come Fall, she will be in school 7 hours and I know she will not be bored. Plus they let 1st and up do their homework in EDP (not sure why they don't work with K) so she can have that opportunity. I know we'll always have our challenges with Keely but with the reduced time in EDP, it should be smoother. At least that's my hope...

March?!?!

Seriously, is it March already?!?! I know people say this all the time but it's honestly true...if there's one thing that stays constant, it is that time goes pretty quickly. Even when there's nothing much but regular life happening. I feel like February went pretty fast but can see March flying by in a blink. There is so much going on and I can tell it will be a fast month. I don't think there's a few days without something going on. Quinn started a Mad Science program last Monday and that continues each Monday after school through March. Keely starts ice skating lessons this Saturday that continue through mid-April. I have the usual Board meetings tomorrow (ASCE and HSA). I can't believe I have almost completed my 4 year term on the ASCE board. I was recruited right after we moved here and I've held a different position each year. I have decided to take a break next year and it will be strange to just be a member and not a deciding factor in the Wasatch Front Branch. I am continuing on as HSA Vice President though so that will keep me occupied! I have a dermatologist appointment on Thursday (just a regular check) and Quinn has an appointment next week with the 2nd orthodontist to see what he says about braces. Nana comes to visit next Wednesday and stays through Saturday, when she will attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown with us that day. I am planning the float this year and I feel so unprepared. We are re-using most items from last year but I have yet to visit the school to see all the leftovers and make sure they are all in good shape after a year in storage. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed here, hoping for the luck of the Irish on that one :) We have another fun night planned with our friends, this time it will be Irish themed with some yummy food and probably some more poker. I have the book club later this month and I have 23 days to read the book. I am judging the science fair downtown at the end of the month. Quinn and Keely both start soccer the last week of the month. Quinn has a communion workshop for 3 hours on the last Saturday. The kids have spring conferences and pictures at school. They have 3 days off from school and two half days. Whew, I think that's it. It does seem like a busy month, huh?