Tell me about your kids...

[blane12]

I feel like I need updates on everyone's kids (not just the 5year olds too). Struggles? Successes? Favorite things?

I'll update later tonight after everyone is in bed, but thought I'd get it going. Oh and pictures too!!!

[kkfeb04]

I was going to update soon so I'll do it here. It's long. The TL/DR version: we are still alive....maybe....I'm not duct taped to the wall. 

Kalvin is a rock star. His tantrums at school have decreased to about one 20 minute or less per week. Last year in kindergarten, he went half day AS and half day gen ed after the shit show that the district caused (I'm still not ready to talk about it but we involved a lawyer at the time because the school fucked up royally). I'm finding I have extreme anxiety that it will happen with her but I'm medicated and trying to be the best advocate (more later).  This year the goal was half and half in a multiage 1-2 grade class. OMG. He's doing phenomenally. We found out that he was only pulled out to the other class for 2 hours and they cut that down to an hour. Next year he is full day gen ed! Only pulled out for therapy. The teacher is amazing. She groups them based on ability and not age or grade, he's keeping up with the second graders easily. He struggles a bit with reading and the coding to read but that's expected because of his speech delay but they work hand in hand and his speech is getting better. The assistant director of Special Education that met with us last year (and will meet with us next week for Katelyn) was shocked how much Kalvin grew, his capabilities and how amazing he's doing. Unfortunately, the district is doing away with the multiage class, which is devastating. He will still have her next year as that was her stipulation that she must have the 12 first graders that she has now next year. She truly has helped him so much this year and I know all the kiddos were looking forward to being the big "brothers and sisters" next year. I promised her that I will write and complain to the district, the board, the principal. Especially since rjamz got me into letter writing campaigns with Pat Fucking Toomey (this is the only way to say his name and my tablet knows this) and the reps along with Casey whom actually reads my letters (I mentioned Kalvin in a Devos letter and his response included Kalvin unlike Schmucker who responded about healthcare).  The district nor the school has told parents this class will no longer be offered.  Anyway, he's 7 and conversations with him are interesting, he was curious about last names which sparked a fun one, and he's so extremely smart. He still has his infectious laugh and is such a sweet kid. 

Katelyn, my firecracker, is now going by Katelyn Moana. Do not tell her she isn't Moana. She loves to sing, may not talk to you but will sing. She regressed back to not speaking in preschool over the winter which coincided with us not taking her to horse therapy. We started again in March and she's back to talking to friends, telling us about her day. I can't explain how it works, it just does. The farm moved further away and is closer to ruby412 then it is to us (farm is in horse country in your county now) but the fact that we've been there for a year and it works, H is okay with the drive. Katelyn will be doing some horse riding competitions this year as she is just a natural on the horses. The big news is that Katelyn will go full day to kindergarten instead of the half day that is offered. Unfortunately, it is at another school than Kalvin's (it is at our home school and he doesn't go there). She's going to be 60/40 learning support/gen ed. She doesn't have behaviors and the district asked us to get a TSS, I told them they can provide a para (preferably one that won't press charges against a 10 year old to teach mom a lesson) as they want one to help her focus but that is outside the scope of the TSS and frankly they abuse Kalvin's (meaning she takes him to AS class or the sensory room when frankly she shouldn't be as the school is responsible for him, not her).  The LS class won't have more than 12 and she will do better in a smaller class. We visited previous daycare and she just physically and mentally shut down in the class of 22 (current daycare is 15 or 6 depending which class she flips to). She was chatting up a storm to her old teacher which shocked her as she really didn't speak in her class.  We meet with the school this week for yet another IEP meeting for her, only two more to go. 


The kids with Joey. He's holding at status quo. The winter was rough from him with more coughing. We still don't know how long his heart will hold out. We are at 6 months of our 1-2 year terminal diagnosis. It is so hard, he's so active but I'm afraid he'll push himself and I will find him one afternoon when I come home. His mitral valve is deteriorating for those that don't remember. We are medicating for comfort and to prolong life but there's no cure, they don't do valve replacements on dogs. He's about 7-8, we had him for 6 years. 



Easter 

[katfco]

My kids are doing great! Caleb is obsessed with video games at the moment, and my MIL got the kids a Nintendo Switch for their birthdays. DH got a Zelda game to go with it, and Caleb loves watching DH play Zelda. He also still loves the Wii Sports. I'm okay with it because it keeps him active. He also turns it into pretend play a lot. He's starting T-ball--his first game is next week, the same day as his party.

He impressed the doctor at his check-up, because he was able to name more than 4 kinds of proteins. He knows all his letters and likes trying to figure out math problems.

Abby's still in her math gifted program and does excellently in her academics. I'm always worried about the kids' social skills, because mine were so limited at their ages. I'm hoping going to a new school will finally help get the kids settled enough we can help them be more involved in making (and spending time with) friends.

She's getting to the age when I know the hormones are starting and it's going to make things interesting. She's a lot less inhibited than I was at that age, but just as strong-willed, so the next several years are going to be....interesting. I do like, however, that she's old enough we can keep her informed on moving decisions, ask her opinion, etc.

[muppetinma]

Andrew is mostly fantastic and somewhat a pain in the ass, which I feel is par for the course when it comes to five year olds. He's kicking butt at school, performing at a third grade level on most subjects. It's pretty awesome, and also terrifying. He'll be starting in a regular kindergarten dual immersion program next year, but there's already talk about whether or not he'll stay in K. My main concern there is that he wants to do dual immersion, but if he skipped ahead, I don't know if he could continue in Spanish. I'm trying not to worry about it. We'll deal with it when we get there.

He's doing well at karate. He's a yellow belt and has his first tournament next weekend. I'm not too psyched to have to get up early and drive two hours away, but I'll deal. Luckily, it should only be a few times a year. He's also started rock climbing on occasion, after being too terrified to try it in the past. It all makes him seem like such a big kid. It's killing me.

[teamhayes]

Well we are in the process of selling miller
He is 10 hands full

Sully is the best! Like the best! He is beyond smart he speaks better than most 3 year olds income across
People stop us and are amazed by hisbvocsbukarybbutnits beyond that because he understands what you say and immediately responds to with a correct answer. He is all over the place so fast but is still working in jumping

K is so good I need to write more in the future but my heart is so full we are trying to deal with the potential transngender topic as well as asd ADHD add

[vthokie]

Everyone is well here. A is developing a bit of a quirky personality. She totally comes by that honestly. She loves art and singing. Her reading has gotten pretty amazing in a short amount of time. She's so ready for kindergarten, but already expressing nervousness.
E is hilarious. He's happy and giggly almost always. He finally got tubes so he doing better and he's gotten a bunch of teeth in, so that helped.
He and A love each other SOO much.

[katfco]

Forgot to add pictures: 

[chirpchirp]

W has grown so much in this past year. She is very social and can make friends wherever she goes, which is a relief to H and me since we were both rather awkward kids growing up. She's also developing quite a bit of sass, which can make for some very dramatic days. She just had an appointment for her clubfoot and her doctor was very happy with how she's progressed. We did notice, however, that her entire left leg has a tendency to rotate in, which can cause some problems down the road. I'm really hoping her foot/leg keeps up as she goes through growth spurts.

I turned one on the 31st and is such a sweet, cuddly little boy! He can say 8-9 words and just learned how to wave. He loves animals, balls and W's MLPonies. He's not walking yet, but climbs everything and crawls super fast...I can't turn my back on him for a second!

[teamhayes]

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

[bean47]

Apr 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

There are some good specialists in Boston. Seeing a counselor that specializes in gender identity might be helpful guidance for you and your H.

[fusion]

Apr 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

I'd find specialist counselors. I have a friend with a transgender child born female transitioning to male and they've had him in therapy for years. They will block his female hormones until he is 16 I think before starting on male hormones and more permanent measures. Really something to talk to specialist therapists about though. 

[imimahoney]

Apr 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

I'm pretty sure Children's has a clinic or some special programs geared towards transgender children.

Just found it teamhayes

www.childrenshospital.org/centers-and-services/disorders-of-sexual-development-dsd-and-gender-management-service-program

Hugs!!

[katfco]

Apr 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

Some kids recognize transgender feelings at an early age, so waiting might not be the best idea if a child is already expressing those feelings. 

Here are a couple of good sites to start with: www.hrc.org/resources/transgender-children-and-youth-understanding-the-basics 
The Human Rights Campaign site has a few links for where to get support. 

PFLAG is a well-known resource for families of LGBTQ. www.pflag.org/ 

One thing you definitely want to do is make sure you have a doctor who is supportive. It also might help to research how the school district has handled issues up to now, so you can be prepared. 

[fusion]

Mine are doing well! They drive me up the wall and are also so fun all at the same time.
Jameson is reading everything and does crazy amounts of complicated math. It will interesting how he does in school in the fall, but I'm confident Montessori will be the best fit for him for an individual education. He probably needs more writing practice, but not enough behind for me to be concerned. He's definitely getting bored with what I can offer him at home, so I hope school will be challenging enough for him in a good way.
Anna is so creative and into crafts and I absolutely love it. She still can get into an emotional rollercoaster, but she's been learning to reign in her emotions better and not be as helpless. We've been working on her being "brave and strong" and it has helped quite a bit.
Declan is . .. two. He's the cutest and sweetest when he is cute and sweet, and when he isn't he is the absolute worst. He's talking up a blue streak about everything, but is still a super picky eater. He's also been pushing and hitting when he gets upset.

Anna and Declan get along really well for the most part and it is super cute. They do a lot of imagination games and D follows her around like a puppy dog. It kind of makes me sad that the boys don't get along as well, but J is such a rule follower personality and Declan is a naughty little 2 year old, so right now they just clash a lot. Hopefully the boys can build a better bond over time, I don't like the current situation between them most of the time.

[sunflowers7]

HI long time no post.   I'll have to make a separate entry for that.   

Bradys doing great, he played one season of tubal this spring and loved it and is kinda obsessed so much he asked for his own batting helmet and went to sleep with it the first night.   We've had a lot of changes going on so he's a bit more sensitive when I leave for work.  He has really embraced religion and randomly prays out loud now, talks about the different stories they hear at church and school and is really focused on wwjd.  His school evaluation from a third party company told us we should wait and do transitional kindergarten due to his fine motor skills being a bit delayed.  So we went back and forth with that for a couple weeks but decid d to send him anyways.  

Amelia is so spunky 2.5 year old.  We potty trained her in January and she dry all night and day except were having poop accidents but I think those are more diet constipation.   She talks nonstop asks questions comments appropriately like good job Brady or that's cool when we play games.   She's so mean to her brother though and says mean things like you can't be in my room and slams the door.  Then sticks her things out.  Three anger came really early with this one. We are still working on what to do with her in the fall for preschool.   

[jg183]

teamhayes I think he can start seeing a specialized therapist now, I wouldn't wait- kinder could be really tough without the support of professionals

[jg183]

sunflowers7 I've been thinking of you.

[blane12]

Blake is doing pretty well for the most part. His speech is so amazing for only having 3 words (mama, dada, milk) at 3.He is speaking full and clear sentences. He is still behind in speech and still doing intensive therapy, but has been progressing so well. I'd say he's about 90% understandable. Strangers understand him now and it makes me sooo happy because I've spent so much of his life translating. It's so empowering for him to be able to express himself. My biggest concern right now is his fine motor skills. He still can't really write and is not interested in coloring. It's all scribbles. He can draw a circle now and do a cross. I found an intervention specialist that is going to do tutoring over the summer twice a week with him which I'm really hopeful will make a huge difference. I talked to the school psychologist and she said the intervention specialist is really great and has a multi sensory approach that she thinks will be great for him. He is still doing his repetitive clapping and kind of hits his chin w his first. I talked to his pedi about it and whether we should have him seen by a developmental pediatrician or not. He was seen at 3 by an autism clinic before we were given the apraxia diagnosis, and they ruled it out at that time. My pedi said that it could be a sign of autism, but that it could just be self soothing and not necessarily autism. She said since he'll be getting what he needs through the school, she didn't think we needed to have him looked at right now. He's very social and has never known a stranger in his life- even with his speech being behind. He amazes me every day with his strength and determination. We decided to go ahead and send him to K. I actually meet w the school in a couple weeks to go over his IEP. They've been doing testing on him to get a baseline in where he's at, and have agreed to give him a 1:1 aide which he will need in the classroom. He will be in gen ed, but will also be in the special ed room some of the day getting individual instruction as well as pullouts for speech, OT, and PT. I feel very comfortable with the people at the school I'm working with that they have his best interests in mind. My cousin is the special ed teacher and the school psychologist's son goes to the same sitter as the kids on Fridays so I have some inside connections. I'm still nervous about sending him, and really hope he thrives. He may end up repeating K depending on how the year goes, but we all agree that repeating K would be more beneficial than another year of preschool. We've been doing swimming for the last 6 months, and he's doing much better. We've also recently done soccer and basketball, and are starting tball soon. I've been thinking about karate because I am concerned about his focus and thought that might help. The place is 40min away so that will suck, but if it helps and he has fun, it would be worth it. We went through a phase where he was getting in trouble in school a lot, not listening, throwing toys, etc, but we seem to have gotten through that and my sweet boy has returned.

C is doing great. He is in such a hurry to grow up. He loooooves Blake so much and they get along so well. I hope they are always this sweet to each other and stay best buddies. He wants to wear Blake's clothes, his shoes, sit in his car seat, etc etc. it's cute. He acts more like a 3 yr old than a new 2 yr old. He is talking full sentences and doing so well. It's such a relief that he doesn't appear to have any signs of apraxia. He's such a funny lil guy, but also a drama queen. If he bumps his head the smallest bit, he says 'I bumped my headdddddd! Mommy kiss it!' He climbs slides, swings like a big kid, drives the power wheel atv, etc. they now have conversations together and it makes my heart burst. We were at the mall play thing today, and he kept yelling 'Blake come slide with meee!' We haven't tried potty training yet, but I'm hoping maybe this summer. He tells me after he's gone and loves to flush the toilet. He also swims Better than Blake already lol.

[silverjm]

Logan is amazing. He's a sweet, silly, imaginative little guy, who has finally become a cuddly mama's boy. He's very outgoing and friendly, so I've been relieved that he didn't get my extreme shyness. We're struggling with lots of bad dreams and wakeups again, so that's been frustrating.

He's still struggling a bit with both his gross and fine motorskills, so at the recommendation of both his preschool and his Kindy evaluation we decided to place him in DK (developmental K) next year. He's doing really well with his numbers, but we're still working on letters.

They found 8 cavities at his spring cleaning, so we've been taking him to a specialist to work through those. They can only do a little bit at a time before he gets antsy and struggles with holding his mouth open. We had to have a talk with MIL about how many sweets she was allowing him to have.

We're planning on doing tennis and soccer this summer which he's very excited about.

[honeybee503]

[Deleted]

They are doing good!  A is so ready for kindergarten, she loves school probably just for the socialization not the learning lol.  She loves dance, art, swimming, pretend play, and princesses.  She has very little interest in learning to read, but I think when she sees other kids next year trying she will get more interested.  She is not that interested in sports, but we are trying out T-ball this summer, she has her first practice next month.  She is nothing like me but it is fun to see her developing her kid personality.  She can have pretty in-depth conversations about how the world works and is starting to learn basic math.

H is my crazy child!  He is either super happy, or super sad, and it changes by the second.  He loves balls, trucks, trains, playing outside, and dogs.  He could play outside all day long if you let him and he always manages to get super dirty somehow.  He is my good eater, eats almost anything other than vegetables.  He has a few words but hasn't had his verbal explosion yet, I'm hoping it happens soon.  He loves to give me these gross slobbery kisses, and is kind of a mama's boy.   He has stopped smiling for me for photos, sad, he gave me the best photos for months with his sweet smile and now I have to work super hard to get one caught on camera. 

[jg183]

My boys are both doing well!
Luke has grown up a lot in the last few months and has been really awesome. Hes still wild but sensitive and a mamas boy. He's doing well in school and has fun with his friends. He still won't sleep alone (ugh). He's in a desensitization treatment for his allergies- peanut now starting tree nut soon and he responded really well after the first day with a reaction.
He's in swim still and I'm hoping to keep it up through summer. He's so good to Alex most of the time and they are best friends (usually)
Alex is my crazy, moody one. He intentionally is bad and knows how to push my patience to the end. He's also funny silly and sweet so it depends on when you get him! He had a speech eval and is caught up (at 18m had no words). He loves to wrestle and has been more agressive lately :/ he hurts Luke constantly but they still are super close and play together all the time!
Work has been stressful so I'm trying to focus on quality family time!

[blane12]

Oh my goodness - I adore every one of your kids!!!!

[thedahliharpa]

Stop. You guys are sucking me in lol

H is 8! She's finishing up second grade and basically crushes her academics. She's really hard on herself and competitive about school stuff. She started piano in February and her first recital is in June. She's still the same fun loving, and spirited H, just more mature and grown up and maybe a bit more sensitive. Drives me crazy at times and wants to be catered to,and can be oblivious to D, DH and I. But when I travel she really steps it up and helps out with her sister. She's doing a week of Girls Rock camp this summer and is so excited (me too!).

D will join H at H's school summer camp in July after pre-school graduation. I tear up when I think about leaving our N school of 7 years. She's very very excited to get to the school and be with the big kids. She and H are both still doing gymnastics and have their first showcase next month.
Sleep is not great. All was well until we got her big girl bed in sept. She comes into our bed at some point every night. When I'm out of town DH can only get her to fall asleep in our bed. It's fine when she's cuddled up and still but can turn into a tornado. I Overall she's very kind and loving when she's not terrorizing H. Her personality is getting bigger and bigger. Between the two of them sometimes...I'm exhausted.

There have been a lot of crappy adult things in our lives the last 6 months or so including work and family for both of us. Since the election really, fucktrump, it's been one thing after another. Culminating with the end of DH's job at the beginning of this month. It will be better in the long run but for now I'm stressed. Everything since November has been draining but I couldn't be happier about the girls. I'm so glad we can focus on them and less on the peripheral things that are out of our control.

[teamhayes]

Thanks everyone

We are still not sure if it is a phase and he really just loves dress up etc or if he identifies one way or other

[kkfeb04]

thedahliharpa, Katelyn still comes in our bed nightly even after buying her a pink bed and a mattress similar to ours.

I'm sorry about all the adult stuff.

[vthokie]

Apr 22, 2017 18:40:01 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Anyone have info on transgender kids? Or do we need roto wait til 9/10

I have a good friend whose child identified as female at a very early age. He would always put on mom's shirt as his "dress" called himself a girl etc. They didn't recognize it as transgender at the time, but started him with a therapist at 3. She's 8 now, and officially started identifying as a female 2 years ago. The summer between K and 1st grade. She's such a more stable kid now. I think talking to someone at this age could be a good thing.

[lauranicole91]

Peyton is doing great at gymnastics and is about to bump up levels again. Her new schedule will be 2 hour classes, 3 days a week. She will start competing in the fall!
She's also reading pretty well now. Only words that sound exactly how they look. Like book, sat, bubble, etc. We've been knocking out those level 1 and 2 easy reader books every few days reading at nap and bedtime.
She loves school too. She goes m-f for 3 hours a day. They were on spring break last week and she was miserable and asked everyday if it was time to go back yet. Haha.
We're still waiting for our appointment with the Endocrinologist. They were booked till mid May.
Overall she is a good kid, she can just get a little hyper and out of control sometimes. Especially if she skips her nap.
Logan is my handful. He will be 2 in June. Omg, his screaming. He screams so much. Happy or upset. Hopefully the more his speech develops, the better it will get. He had a bit of a speech explosion a few days after his evaluation. He's still very behind, but he is actually starting to mimic a bit. He whispers when he talks, so sometimes it's easy to miss his attempts, especially since Peyton is so damn loud and can't stand us paying attention to Logan. Speech therapy is going okay. We're going to the same place we took Pey, but with a different SLP and we aren't a huge fan.
He is also just so sensitive and shy. By this age Peyton was over her clingy stage, him, not so much. It's pretty exhausting.
Here are some pictures.
Spring school picture

At the birthday party yesterday

My smiley boy

Mr. fussypants.

[Deleted]

Delaney is doing well. We're starting to get a handle on her medical stuff but also dealing with new triggers (she reacts to heat/sun which she didn't really used to do so we're adjusting our expectations and things as we get closer to summer) She is still triggered by gluten but I've learned she can tolerate a little bit which is good. We got approval to see an out of network allergist that seems to be more knowledgeable with mast cell disorders but her appt isn't until the end of August!
She LOVES to sing and dance! I had her in a theater class but we dropped out due to cost and schedule, I'll sign her up again in the future probably. She's very good at drawing and is still really imaginative/creative. She's funny, smart and kind. I love her
She is starting to be more well behaved but has periods of straight up not listening, doing what she wants and the occasional melt down. Her mast cell stuff can cause behavioral issues but we're starting to be able to tell the difference between a reaction and being a five year old.

Rhys is doing well too. We started going for check ups about 6 months ago because I noticed he wasn't eating much at all and it seemed to be worsening. His poop turned white and that worried his dr's (I told them he basically lived off milk because he didn't eat much) so we looked into liver issues and everything was great. I told the Dr a few months ago that I thought it was a sensory or other eating/mouth issue and she didn't really say anything but then mil (who is an slp) said something too so I asked for an eval. Sure enough he has an issue with using his tongue and chewing so he's starting feeding therapy soon. Hopefully it helps him starting eating more real food, even just with what I learned from the eval I've started to make some changes and he's doing a little better already.
He sleeps through the night most nights but still wakes up 1-3x a night a couple times a week. He does still take a pretty good nap every day (except at school because it takes him a while to settle then nap time is over so they have to wake him)
He's talking so much and is so funny!! Gosh I love him and am loving this age. He's so wonderful and adorable!
He's doing well in school and loves it most days. He is SUPER attached to me and still throws pretty big tantrums but they seem to be lessening a little bit so hopefully we're almost past that stage.

Overall they're both pretty great!

[imimahoney]

Ari and Corinne are doing awesome! They get along (moderately) and are so cute when they play together. Obviously, they fight and drive me nuts but it is way less it was. I'm so excited to be off this summer with them. This is the first time, in a long time, that I am not dreading summer

Corinne is so sweet and adorable. She can be super bossy and stubborn but what 2 year old isn't. She is also obsessed with me which is draining but so nice to have. Ari was obsessed with my H at this age and it really sucked for me. It's great to finally experience the other side.

Ari is trying but great. He loves to "read" and is actually learning! I am so excited for him to start kindy but so sad to see him grow up. He turns 5 is 2 days, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE He has been super trying though, not really listening and pushing our buttons but he usually gets like this around his birthday. Hopefully it will calm down in a few months.