Month: October 2013

Cori and Scott had their 2nd annual Halloween Bash this past Saturday night. I was supposed to be in Chicago for my stepbrother’s wedding but sadly had to cancel my trip so as not to risk preterm labor by flying (boo-hiss). Anyhow, it was nice to know we would be spending the weekend surrounded by family and friends, especially since we have been going through so many changes and such around here. Jay had already planned to stay down at their place on Friday night with Theo to help get the “haunted house” and other things set up in advance of the party. So, since I wound up in town, I took Theo down there Friday afternoon and spent time hanging out with all of them while Jay was still at work. Cori’s mom (Theo’s Aunt Vicki) drove in from Cleveland, and brought along Theo’s little cousin, Estelle. It was very nice for them to get to spend time together as they really don’t know each other well. And of course the big boy cousins, William and Sam, were there.

I headed to a friends house later that night and then stayed back at our place by myself so that I could have a night to myself. I got to sleep in on Saturday, take a gloriously long hot shower and get a mani/pedi/massage. It was very nice and very needed. I met them back down there on Saturday afternoon and watched the party planning unfold. Delicious food, spooky decorations and haunted house being finished on the first floor by Jay and our friend Sarah. It was awesome to be surrounded by the hustle bustle of family and friends. Theo was zonked out and wound up taking a very late monster nap, which was good because he was able to hang out with everyone much later than he would have otherwise. Theo was so happy to be with everyone. Family, and our friends alike. He finally even put his costume on! I’ll post photos of that later this week when we go trick or treating.

We went back to Bay Ridge early Sunday evening for a wonderful Italian dinner with Scott, Cori, the boys, Vicki and Estelle. Once again Theo seemed so happy with everyone and was the most well behaved in a restaurant I have ever seen him! He sat with us at the table the entire time and ate lots of calamari and pizza. It was a wonderful, much needed weekend for all of us. The first one that Daddy hasn’t worked on Sunday in a few weeks. We all deserved it.

Love my family.

Wow, I really haven’t written in awhile. Last Friday Theo came down with a fever. He had complained the night before of a sore throat so once the fever came on I knew something was really off with him. Luckily he wasn’t completely laid out. His fever hovered around 101/102 the whole weekend. The biggest concern seemed to be the very sore throat he was dealing with. For a good three nights he was up many, many, many times during the night. Mostly whining that his throat hurt and just wanting Mama. None of us got much sleep the entire weekend. We laid around a lot and just took it easy. The pediatrician told me to bring him in Monday if the fever didn’t go away and if his throat was still bothering him. His fever was mostly gone by Monday but I still took him in to see the doctor. They gave him a throat culture. Ugh. I HATED those when I was a kid. It was tough to play stupid and be like, “just a quick tickle… Mama’s right here, you can do it.” All the while I was cringing inside. He was brave but he cried pretty hard afterwards and needed a good cuddle. Poor guy. No strep, thankfully. She said it was probably a virus that had already worked it’s way mostly out of him as it was already day 4 at that point. He remained in good spirits most days until the later afternoon, and of course the evenings were always they worst. I kept him home from school on Tuesday for more rest, and rest is what we did. He has been pretty great ever since and certainly has his appetite back. I know this is barely skimming the surface of what we’ll all endure over the next several years. Breaks my heart to see him so miserable. And we were all just so exhausted.

Theo still loves reading books and my favorite thing to do is to listen to him read books to me. Obviously he can’t quite read yet, but many of our books we have read so, so many times and he knows them by heart. I find it amazing to listen to him recite some of these books (Babar, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, many Mercer Mayer books, Aliens Love Underpants, Dog and Bear…). He also does this adorable thing where he follows the sentences along with his finger, just as one does when they really are learning to read for the first time. He loves to read beverage bottles and any title of a book while running his hand along the letters… “what does this say? How the Grinch Stole Christmas?” And he enunciates it slowly as if he were really learning to read it for the first time.

Pregnancy update: I had my follow-up ultrasound last week with the head doctor and my cervix was actually shorter. It had been 2.5cm the previous week, which is right on the border of being considered “short”, and last week it was 2.2cm. It was opened. Luckily, the doctor wasn’t too worried because I don’t have a history of pre-term labor, but still, they will need to monitor and I will need to take it as easy as possible. They gave me a progesterone shot in my tushy bum and told me to come back every week. Basically the plan is to have the shot once a week, and have continued ultrasounds each week to measure my cervix and monitor. I went back today and I’m happy to report that my cervix measured 3cm, which is completely normal. This means the hormones are helpful and/or it’s fluctuating a bit and it’s in the right direction. I will continue to go each week for my progesterone shot and I’m going to have another ultrasound in two weeks. We will have to keep doing this until I’m 37 weeks. So, let’s do this. 11 more weeks to go until I’m at least in the “range of normal”.

Otherwise, she is looking really great and I’m feeling good. This is getting real people!

We live one block away from the Prospect Park Parade Ground, where there are very busy soccer fields. Monday afternoon we strolled over there with a cookie to watch the kiddos playing soccer. The fields are surrounded with benches so there are ample places to post up and watch the activity. We had a nice little pre-dinner treat while enjoying the transition from the warmer, sunny afternoon to the cool, crisp fall evening. On our walk back home, we ran into some neighbors admiring spooky Halloween decorations. I learned there will be a Halloween parade on the 31st just a couple blocks from our house! We live on the edge of these amazingly historic streets lined with giant, old homes. It’s quite reminiscent of Cleveland Heights. Needless to say, that is where we will be doing our trick or treating this year!!

We signed Theo up for the much talked about dance class at the Cynthia King Dance Studio near our new place. It will be every Sunday morning for the next seven weeks. There are four other kids and he really seemed to enjoy the class. It’s toddler dance, so I’m still there with him as a partner, or “model”, as they like to say. I didn’t think he was ready for the Pre-K class, which is a drop-off, considering he hasn’t taken dance before AND he is not exactly in the best place in the world regarding separation. The class is focused on learning different movements (marching, galloping, turning with hands on hips, touching your nose while bending your knees, etc), following directions and then putting it all together with music. It was really fun for both of us. He showed great coordination and just loved hearing the music and putting together what we learned. Mostly, though, I think just having a space with a structured class where he can use his body is awesome. I’m looking forward to our remaining classes and hope I have more positive updates for how he continues to enjoys it, as well!

We moved in last Monday. Moving day turned out to be pretty awful. I had scheduled movers that came recommended from a friend, but I didn’t do my research. Her movers were really great, so it does depend on who you get I suppose. Either way, if I would have done research, I would have realized it was one of those “two guys and a truck” jobs under the guise of an official company name. Needless to say, they were four hours late. Being late is one thing. Fine. But nobody contacted me. I didn’t get a hold of anyone until they were already 1 1/2 hours late. Then it was back and forth and they finally got there at 2pm instead of 10am. Theo was an amazing trooper and wound up sleeping in the stroller with Grandpa Joe for quite awhile, thankfully. I was stressed because our whole entire day was now pushed back FOUR HOURS! This meant that all of our stuff wasn’t into the new place until nearly 8pm. I think Theo went to bed at 10:30pm that night. It was sort of a disaster. Jay and his Dad didn’t get back to our new place until 3am after they went to 452 Park Pl to clean and take care of a few last things. We were SO thankful for Grandpa Joe’s help. We spent the entire next day getting our general living space organized and making sure that Theo’s room was together and cozy. It’s still very much a work in progress. We are hanging pictures, shelves and still need very much to organize our room and Jay’s office/storage room that is off of our room. It’s looks nice but there are some definite drawbacks to this place that for whatever reason weren’t apparent to me when I was hastily trying to sign a lease. It sucks that we know we will need to move again, probably after only a year, but we want to find a perfect place for our family to live for several years and this is not the place.

Theo has frequently told us he wants to go home 🙁 We are all adjusting to a new living space. I don’t feel quite comfortable yet, or like it’s home, so I can only imagine how Theo must feel. We talk about how moving is hard for everyone and will take us time to feel at home again. I think our neighborhood explorations and our family time spent there has helped tremendously already. Theo will look around, hold his arms out and say “look at our place!” as we get our familiar pictures and other home-y things surrounding us. Hopefully within the month we will all feel much more comfortable.

There is much more space, that is for sure.

Theo can scoot around on his scooter. We have a real kitchen table, and I just love sitting there for meals and watching Theo using a regular chair at our table. The general kitchen/dining/living space is very bright and open. That’s the best part. I’ll post some photos as things come together more.

Along with the parent update, the teachers sent along photos of the kids playing in the park or in the classroom. I chose some of the best ones to share here.

Theo is in his fifth week of preschool and I’ve FINALLY received an update from his teachers. Communication with them has been a bit touch and go. Of course I partially understand considering they are working hard in the classroom everyday and the transition period for a gaggle of 3 and 4 year-old’s is obviously no easy feat.

First they had a blog going with weekly updates, complete with adorable photos. Then technical difficulties ensued… and then they introduced personalized notebooks that would stay in each child’s backpack to be updated each week. Well, that has yet to come into fruition. Last Thursday, there was a sign up for the Sweet Gum class parents (that is Theo’s crew) that individual emails would go out to each parent about their child by Friday. Sweet, I thought… finally. All weekend I still had nothing 🙁 Tuesday I asked them about it and they promised me I would be getting mine. Many other parents already received their email. Ugggggh. This afternoon I finally received our update.

Transition:
Theo enjoys working and playing in the classroom and is working hard at adjusting to being at school. He is verbal and energetic. When he is feeling sad or mad, he will seek out a teacher to talk to. He is able to share his feelings and feel comforted by a hug and will usually feel better afterward. We are helping Theo work through his feelings in a positive and constructive way.

Theo is pottying well at school. He uses the potty at least once a day. He is always able to tell teachers when he has to use the bathroom and is able to perform all tasks associated independently. He is not quite comfortable pottying during outdoor play yet but let’s us know that he would rather wait until we return to the classroom.

Play/Socio-Emotional:
Theo can be encouraged to play and work with classroom materials and is able to do so for a short period of time. This is age appropriate and we will continue to work with Theo on building his endurance for sustained activity. Theo is still learning how to navigate his body safely in the space and often finds difficulty in touching friends in appropriate ways. This is okay. We can already observe him taking in the concept of gentle touches and making choices to touch his friends in gentle ways.

Theo often checks in with teachers and shares a story and will engage in play alongside them. Theo especially loves sing-alongs and stories and is sure to ask for his favorites throughout the day.

What you can do to support development:

Although their transition continues, the first month of school is complete and our time in the classroom will become more and more significant as we form a deeper bond with the children. It is important at this stage in transition that parents leave before or by 9:45am. This will help the children gain a sense of confidence in their school routine.

Upcoming:
Parent Teacher Chats are scheduled for November 5th and November 6th. During these chats you will have the opportunity to see and hear more about Theo’s experience at school and share your concerns and questions at that time.

I had considered taking Theo out of preschool already because of all of the changes that were happening simultaneously in our lives. Watching him struggle with sleep, our move, behavior, has not been easy. I wasn’t certain if school was best for him right now. However, over the past few weeks I have seen him more excited about school and I know that he has fun when he is there. And I know the teachers are very good at what they do. Theo is hungry for this environment. School is probably the best routine for him to have every week. Something that is absolutely consistent and that he enjoys. The teachers are helping to reinforce exactly what we are at home. This morning at the playground I watched Theo join another school group playing duck, duck, goose. He was so happy and thrilled to sit and participate with them. I also watched him yesterday at a small 4 kid art class I took him to. Sitting in the circle, singing and doing the project laid out for the kids was really nice for him and I could tell how proud he was of himself. I watched him listen well, wait his turn and engage with his project. It was heartwarming. Suffice it to say, although there are times I want to just keep him as close to home as possible, I know this is the best thing in the world for him. It may not be the best preschool in the city, but he is safe, nurtured and encouraged to grow and learn. It is truly a big stepping stone.

I visited the Birthing Center on Friday for my 24-week prenatal visit. Her heartbeat was perfect, I’ve gained 15 pounds and all other vitals were good to go. We started talking about making a plan for Theo, whether or not we would have a doula and the midwife just offered her ear for any questions or concerns I had. I also went back to New Beginnings Peri-Natal Center, where BBC patients go for sonograms, for a follow-up on my anatomy sonogram. When we went for our 20 week sono a few weeks ago, little Miss wasn’t a fan of sitting still, so they weren’t able to get clear enough images of her heart and her face. Everything appeared ok, they told me, they just needed clearer pictures for the birthing center to be 100% certain that there aren’t any potential medical concerns. Obviously for us to know all is ok, too, and that no further testing would be needed! After yesterday’s visit, clear images were received. However, now she has concerns about the cervical length. I need to go back again next week to see the head doctor. Fingers crossed that she is just being overly cautious. A shortening cervix is pretty serious. We are remaining hopeful through everything and will update next week. I need an updated belly photo, too. It’s hard to believe I’m already six months!!