A Recent Status Update

Em and Julia were having a little spat. They were pretty much over it when shortly after, I had a discussion with Ryun about a Dr.'s appointment Emily has Tuesday. Out of nowhere, Julia, who may I remind you, is only 6 years old said, "Yeah Emily, well I hope they take your voice box out!" What?!?! It was seriously one of the funniest/most sarcastic/perfectly timed things she has ever said....and oh so "Ryun" of her.   After I stopped crying from laughing so hard, When I asked where she had learned about voice boxes, she replied in a very matter of fact tone, "The Little Mermaid."

Seriously, this girl never misses a beat!

It;s A Literal Life

Ryun (to me):  I killed my hand fixing the alternator in the truck today.

Julia:  Really Dad? If your hand is dead then how come it is still moving?
 

Julia and What Today Means To Her

Today being Martin Luther Day, I am reminded of a couple of examples from last year when Julia took the stories of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks to heart.

When discussing Dr. Martin Luther King at school, one of the parent volunteers asked Julia what she thought Dr. King's dream was. Julia pondered the question for a minute and answered, "I bet his dream was that he was white...then he never would have gotten shot."

Later that same day, she got on the bus and told the driver (who had the bus set up so kindergarten students sat up front)  that because of Dr. King, Rosa Parks and Mrs. S (Julia's teacher last year), she could sit wherever she wanted on the bus.

Just a couple more examples of "Julia Logic."

Dear Emily and Katherine,

Please remember to be very specific with your younger, very literal, sees everything as black or white sister.  For example, if you are telling her that you don't want her following you, please be sure to also say that it doesn't mean that she can't even be in the same room as you, or that you may not tolerate her following you every once in a while.  Otherwise she will think that because you said it once, you mean it to be a permanent thing.  If you then say that she can come in the room you are in, she will accuse you of lying when you told her not to follow you in the first place.  If you are letting her use one of your toys, please make her aware of the "terms of use."  If she can use your doll but you don't want her taking said doll's shoes off or if she can use your DSi game but for only a limited time, you must make her aware of this.  If you aren't very specific, your doll's shoes could be removed and, she may think that you have in fact given her the DSi game for an unlimited time and possibly even forever. For Julia, it's all in the details.  Please be generous and abundant when providing them.  In the case of Julia, there is no such thing as too much information.

Sincerely, Mom

Silly Ladybug

Last night, shortly after Julia had gone to bed, I heard a blood curdling scream, followed by crying come from her room.  I ran out of the office to see what had happened, expecting to find, I don't know, maybe a missing limb or something.  Instead, I found her sitting up in bed, crying with a look of sheer terror on her face.  When I asked what was wrong, she said, "There was a hard bug...and it was in my hair!"  Whatever it was had vacated her head (we discovered that it was a lady bug that we found on her bed a few minutes later)so I hugged her, told her it was ok and tried, in vain, to settle her down.  Nothing was working to calm her...she was seriously scared, and no explanation of anything was working.  Julia being Julia had many, many questions about the whole thing .  How did it get in the house?  Why are bugs attracted to light?  Should I shut off my aquarium?  Should we shut off the hall light?  Are slugs attracted to light because slugs rhymes with bugs (No, I am not kidding, she really said that)?  How did I finally get her to settle down enough to go back to sleep?  Observe the picture below taken a few nights ago with my phone camera:

I told her that the one that landed in her hair must have thought that her ladybug Pillow Pet was a real lady bug and they were going to hang out.  After basically a good twenty minutes of crying, questioning, and me playing a live version of an encyclopedia on bugs, this explanation elicited this response from Julia, followed shortly by her peacefully falling asleep: "That ladybug is so silly!  Didn't he know that my Pillow Pet was too big to be a real lady bug?"

Seriously, I love that kid!

Julia's Parent Teacher Conference...

...confirmed for me once again that the decision to have her repeat Kindergarten was the best decision that could have been made for her.

She has started this year off being ahead of the game, passing all of the beginning of the year assessments with flying colors. Socially she appears to overcome all of the inhibitions she had. She no longer has trouble making decisions during free time. She is making good choices about who she interacts with in the class (steers clear of the "troublemakers"). She uses language appropriately in social situations and is interacting freely and with ease. She is confident, well spoken and completely comfortable in her routine. It was the parent teacher conference for a "typical" kindergarten student.

I left her conference feeling like I could literally burst with pride. It was like a dream or goal that has always been just slightly out of reach for her had finally come to be. It was years of hard work, many interventions, tons of doctors and specialists (her pediatrician, developmental pediatrician, Early Intervention staff, neurologist, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists) and more tests than I could even begin to name, showing, in a big way, that it was all worth it. Every appointment, every phone call, every trip to the Early Intervention office, every drive to Boston, every IEP written, every joy, every doubt, every tear (and yes there were some on her part and mine), every milestone she hit along the way was all leading up to this moment in time...a moment in time that even during the most difficult periods, I always knew would come.

I left the conference feeling very reflective. Julia's journey has been remarkable. Nothing (from walking, to talking, to interacting, to yes, even eating) has come easy for her. So today, I found myself reading Julia's story...from the first moment I felt something was a little "different" about her (about nine months old) until this entry here. I read about the first time she walked at twenty months old and what a truly exciting and emotional time that was. I read about how she used to hate the Nuk brush and about how I had to give her salsa before breakfast to "wake her mouth up" so that she would try and eat different textures. I read about her abnormal EEG. I read about the time that I was excited about her jumping on the couch and how funny it was to be excited about that. I read it all. Then I copied and pasted in to a word document, which is 45 pages long, Julia's story. I will share it with her someday when she is old enough to understand and appreciate it. And I will read it again from time to time whenever I need or want to remember what a true inspiration she is.

Sometimes...

...I really miss having a kid at home with me. I know...crazy right?

Little things remind me of this. Today it was running in to the store and seeing a young girl and and her mom laughing together. She couldn't have been more than three or so. It didn't help that she could have been Julia's sister with the beautiful blond hair and brilliant blue eyes. I thought to myself, "That moment was Julia and I not so long ago."

Yesterday, I turned the tv on and the last channel watched must have been Disney. There on the screen was, "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", one of Julia's favorite shows as a toddler. I'll be darned if I didn't catch myself saying out loud, "Aww, I miss watching this with Julia." It wasn't the show I missed obviously...it was Julia.

So yes, she is back for year two of full day kindergarten and this is just hitting me now. I don't know why the delay. All I know is that there are some days that I wish time travel was possible because if it was...I would go back.

So...

...for the first time she since got on the bus for her second year of preschool, Julia has, for the past couple of mornings, had a very difficult time getting on the bus.

When she started at the public preschool, I drove her to school, even though she was eligible to take the bus. Three just seemed too little to send my baby of on the bus and I liked the communication dropping her off and seeing the teacher every day provided. When we had her IEP meeting for the year she turned four, they recommended that she ride the bus so that when kindergarten came, she would not have as tough of a transition, riding the bus daily to and from school. I agreed, even though I was practically *dying* thinking about sending my baby off on a school bus at age four. That year, we also increased her days in school from two to four, again preparing her for full day kindergarten, five days a week.

Julia has always needed a little extra prep when any change is taking place. You can't just throw her in to a situation and expect that she will handle it fine and will know what is expected of her. So, for the summer before she was to take the bus, we read book that I made detailing her entire routine...from the minute she woke up until the minute she got back off of the bus at home. I made arrangements to take pictures of the bus, pictures of what would be her classroom, and pictures of spots around the house that would be significant in her routine (the kitchen to eat breakfast, bathroom to brush teeth etc). By the time September came, she had the plan committed to memory and for the most part, got on the bus that first day with no problem. She had the, "I might cry" look on her face but held it together and off she went.

When it came time to ride the "big bus" and head to kindergarten, Julia was pretty comfortable with the whole situation. She showed some slight concern about the fact that she would not be in a car seat and buckled in. I did my best to explain that the big bus didn't have seat belts (why don't they anyway?) and she seemed to move on. Every once in a while it would come up last year but I was able to calm her fears pretty quickly and easily.

Fast forward to the past couple of days. She is suddenly "freaking out" about not having a seat belt on the bus and said it makes her "very nervous and worried" which are her exact words. At first I thought it a bit strange that this would come up now after a full year last year on the big bus and a month and a half under her belt this year. I thought that there must be something else and that she was using the lack of seat belts as an excuse to cover whatever else was going on.

After consulting with her sister, who also rides the bus with her, asking her bus driver, and talking to Julia herself, it seems that it really is just the seat belt situation. I did find out that bus evacuation practices has happened or will soon so it is possible that this whole seat belt thing came to light after a discussion at school or on the bus about bus safety. She was literally in tears last night when we were talking about getting on the bus this morning.

Julia and I talked for an hour last night about this. She was very adamant that the bus was not safe, that was was nervous with no seat belt, and that she would not go on the bus ever again. She was as is usually the case very, very set about what was going to go down this morning (she wasn't getting on that bus come hell or high water and she would either miss school or I would be driving her and that's that). Somehow, I eventually managed to convince her that she would be ok. I think she was just too worn out both physically (this went on past her normal bedtime) and mentally to keep going. She did ok this morning though she did ask a few times if I would drive her. I stuck to my original conviction which was that I would not be driving her. I didn't do this to be mean but to teach her that sometimes, life is hard, and you have to push through the fear and uncertainty. Who knew such a lesson could be taught during a discussion about seat belt safety and bus rides to school?

In some ways this shows growth for Julia. It's becoming harder and harder to remember the shy, timid, little girl she used to be.

And clearly, she really has been listening to my constant reminders to buckle up in the car (even if it is a habit for all three kids I still say it every time).

Overheard AtThe Dinner Table

Emily: Dad, why are you so frustrated?

Julia: He's a man...he is always frustrated.

Julia is 6 years old and has already developed quite the insight in to the male mind.

Watch out world (males in particular)...here she comes! : )

Julia: Dennis, 2010

Below are some of a set of pictures I took of Julia while on vacation. These were taken on the porch as the sun shined in. I love how these came out!

The one below this is my favorite of the bunch. Sunkissed and sweet!

Happy Birthday...

...to my youngest daughter Julia, who is six years old today!

In keeping with tradition, we started the morning with presents and cup cakes for breakfast. I have done this for everyone's birthday, since Emily was a year old. I could be wrong about this but I think the kids may be more excited about eating cupcakes for breakfast than anything else on the day of someone's birthday...maybe even there own. You have to admit, a cupcake sounds better than a boring old bowl of say, Cheerios.




We will celebrate with my family later today poolside. Pizza is on the menu for dinner, followed by the finishing off the cupcakes I made for this morning's festivities. My sisters are taking Julia for a couple of days as a special treat so she will be spending the first few days of being six with her aunts and cousin in North Andover.

As for the rest of the day, I am off to get ready to sit in as the parent representative for interviews being conducted at HBB for an adjustment counselor.

Milestone!

Julia lost her first tooth tonight! She was scared at first, despite my having told her that this would happen, but after she settled, she told Emily that she could, "help wiggle her loose teeth anytime she wanted." It was cute to see how excited Emily and Katherine were for Julia. Here is a picture of her, showing off the spot where the tooth was!

Literal Julia At Her Best

My sister to Julia: "I have a cookie here with your name on it."

Cue Julia, who immediately burst in to tears after looking at the cookie and discovering, that it did not actually have her name written on it.

Seriously, that happened.

Yup...I cried...

...when the kids got off the bus. It was really all Julia's fault...well Julia and her teacher's.

I think my Facebook status from yesterday sums it up nicely: "Yeah so I totally cried when I went through Julia's IEP progress reports/report card. This girl has made such a dramatic leap from where she was just a short time ago. What really did it though was the 8x10 framed photo of Julia with a note from the teacher on the back. Lets not even get to the thank you note her teacher wrote for the end of the year gift we gave her. I was literally a mess this afternoon!"

When I look way back to when Julia was first identified as having delays...when I remember the girl who didn't take her first step until she was 20 months old...the girl that I actually had to teach to eat...the girl who barely spoke a word until she was two...to the girl who has met every single benchmark and goal set for her in PT, OT, Speech and Language, ELA and Math, so much so that she will be going forth next year with no IEP or special ed services at all, I can't help but be overwhelmed with sheer joy and emotion. Along with the joy comes an immense sense of accomplishment (on her part and mine) and such an intense feeling of pride that words can't even begin to explain.

Here she is...on her last day of school for this year.

Kindergarten Concert Pics

As you can see, Julia is very shy on the stage..ha ha ha!

Today is a new day...

...and thank God for that. It amazes me the difference a day can make.

So the insurance thing kind or worked it self out...not in the best way it could of but better than nothing. We will have the "good" insurance plan from Ryun's union for at least the next month and maybe beyond. So yesterday? I made five dentist appointments (one for each member of the family), two eye doctor appointments (one for Emily and one for me) one appointment with my counselor, and two well check visits with the pediatrician (one for Emily and one for Katherine). All taking place during the month of June. Hello busy month!

Today is already shaping up to be a better day...I feel better, I have lunch plans with my sister and nephew and then I have Julia's kindergarten concert. I can't wait to hear her and her classmates sing! Tonight I will be at the school committee meeting on behalf of the MECC School Council, presenting the school improvement plan to the School Committee.

Yay for a busy but fun day!

Normal=Highly Overrated!

I have always wondered if Julia would ever notice that she was, for a lack of a better word, "different" from most of the other kids at school. Not that there is anything wrong with different...as Katherine would say, "Normal is boring!" Julia hasn't always been completely in tune with herself or her surroundings so I never thought that if she ever did realize it, it would be at the ripe old age of 5.

This morning, while getting ready for school Julia said, "Mom, sometimes school is hard for me because I am always way behind." When I asked her what she meant she said, "You know, like every one else finishes their work and I am still working on mine." I gave her a hug and told her it didn't matter if she finished it first or last, it only mattered that she gave it her best try.

I'd be lying if I told you that my eyes didn't fill with tears when she said that...and maybe not for the reason you may think. It was heartbreaking yes, to hear her express her pain regarding the situation but, more than that? It was a huge breakthrough for Julia...expressing her feelings so adequately and being so completely in tune with what was going on in and around her.

I don't think words could adequately express how proud I am of Julia or how much she has taught me in life.

Julia...

...spent the night at Children's in Boston the other night for what a doctor at Tobey thought was appendicitis. Turns out she was, well we'll just say backed up and had a stomach virus to boot. She woke up over night Tuesday (technically about 2AM Wednesday morning) literally screaming in pain. Nothing worked to settle her and it was clear she was in agony but, beyond that, she seemed to be having trouble breathing. She was taking quick and short breaths and couldn't take a deep breath when I asked her to. The pain was concerning but more than that I was worried about the breathing. After a few hours of this, with no indication of improvement, I decided to take her to the hospital. On the way there, in between tears, she announced that she didn't want to go to a hospital because Nana died in a hospital. It was so sad but I managed to convince her that going to a hospital didn't mean she was going to die. When we got there we were seen immediately. I can't remember what it was but her blood pressure was really high and her heart rate was 180. Her temperature was 100.4. Shortly after being taken back the doctor came in. He moved her legs around, and pushed on her belly and she was screaming. He ordered a catscan and the nurse started and iv and put her on an oxygen monitor because she was still having trouble breathing. The iv was probably about the worst thing that ever happened to Julia...if you ask her I am sure she would agree. The doctor also ordered morphine because she was so uncomfortable. While we were waiting for the doctor to come back in with the results of the scan, she started burning up. Her fever was 102.6. The nurse gave her Tylenol. Between the morphine and the Tylenol, she was finally settled down. The doctor came back in and said the scan was clear but because she was in such pain and had a fever he thought it would be wise to send her up to Children's overnight for observation. Ryun had to get back home in time to get Emily and Katherine off of the bus so Julia and I went by ambulance to Boston (the doctor recommended that she go by ambulance anyway because her breathing was still a concern and she could be monitored that way). We got there at about 2 and we went in through the ER. By this time, Julia had not had anything to eat or drink in about 20 hours (dinner on Tuesday night). She was starting to become very lethargic and only answered questions with yes or no. As the day progressed, these symptoms became worse and worse. She was getting fluids through the iv but it didn't seem to be doing much. The doctor drew blood and discovered that her white blood count was elevated. Everything else came back fine. Finally, at about 8, they let her eat. She had some juice and a popsicle which she proceeded to throw up. This was the deciding factor for the doctor having her stay the night. Her fever was back up again, so after we changed her and the bed, the nurse gave her Motrin and she fell asleep. We were moved upstairs to a room around midnight. The nurses and doctors came in at that point to check her over which she basically slept through. I slept in a pull out chair thing next to her bed (and by sleep I mean tossed and turned all night and woke every time they came in the room which was about every hour). Julia slept through the night more or less and only woke slightly when they came in to check on her each hour. She woke up yesterday feeling much better...not 100% but better. Whatever was going on with her breathing was gone. The nurse said I could order her food but to keep it bland. She managed to keep it down and was pretty much in good spirits. The doctors came in mid morning to check on her and they decided to observe her for the day. She managed to, well, get things going and later that day the doctors said she could go home. Ryun and the girls came up to get us and we were home by 5 or so. I kept her home from school today so she could just relax.

So...it has been a very eventful couple of days. I am just glad my baby is ok and it turned out to be nothing serious. In typical Julia style, even in her pain she managed to be pretty funny at times. A few examples:

Like I said when she first got to the hospital her heart rate was very high. After it had slowed down, she said, "Mom, I think my heart stopped beating!" She could probably feel it beating when it was racing and noticed the difference.

When she was at Tobey they had her connected to an automatic blood pressure monitor. When I heard it turn on, I was telling her each time that it was about to give her arm another hug. After a few times of this, she sighed and said, "This thing must really love me because it keeps hugging me."

When we went in for the catscan, the tech explained to Julia that the table she was laying on was going to move in and out of the circle, kind of like a ride. After the tech went back to take the pictures, Julia said to me, "Mom, I wish this ride had a water slide."

And finally, when we were admitted to Children's, we were on the 10th floor. She had a portable IV pole and she asked if we could go look out the window. I brought her over and she looked out and said, "Wow...this is like a skyscraper!"

I'm Blaming Ryun

Me: "Julia, please go put the drum stick away. We are only allowed to use that when we are playing Band Hero."

Julia: "But Mom, I am pretending it is a gun."

Me: "Julia we don't pretend things are guns. Guns are not toys."

Julia: "But Mom, I am playing Adam 12, what's the problem?"

Julia...

...has been saying a lot of blog worthy things lately.

Today she asked me if "rotten food" was poisonous. I said that it could be. She asked if you could die from eating it. I said that you could. Before I had the chance to elaborate and explain how it would have to be a really severe case of food poisoning for someone to die, she said, "No you can't because I just ate this banana that had a rotten brown part on it and I didn't die." She said it very matter of fact like, which is typical for her but something about it just struck me as funny.