Category Archives: Nicholas

pre-K

Posted on August 19, 2010 by brigidday| 1 Comment

Nick has officially made the move from our beloved Montessori to the early development program at a county school. I wondered a lot about starting him for the last three weeks of last year and then moving him back to his old school for summer school and then switching back to the new school this fall. Seemed like a lot of switching. But I have to say, now that it’s here, I’m so happy we did it. He was excited to go back, he’s already shown improvement and this transition was a lot easier than any of the others.

His my schedule has changed drastically. He has given up naps most days (except for his day off, which is Wednesdays. For now that’s our catch up on sleep day until he fully adjusts to the new schedule.) And he goes to school in the afternoon. I wasn’t too sure how I would like the pm slot, but so far I’m really happy and so is he. He loves to go to the grocery store and run errands with me, so we do that in the morning, still have time for play-doh and puzzles, eat lunch and then he’s off and I get to nap work for a few hours.

And my sweet boy is riding the bus! This bus has 5-point seatbelts for the children and there is an aid who rides along. He was soooo excited to ride, partly because he’s watched Maggie ride the bus for a year and because we talked about the bus like. it. was. magic.

He has started volunteering tidbits about his day. He will tell me what songs they sang or what art project he worked on. He’s excited to go every day and he’s happy to come home. Once again, I can’t ask for more than a happy kid.

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The name game

Posted on August 15, 2010 by brigidday| Leave a comment

Izzy has won us all over. She is charming, sweet, playful, and answers to three different names. See, when we were on vacation in Michigan, we stayed in the home of a friend who had a lovely black cat named LuLu. We all loved LuLu and I mentioned more than once that I wanted to put LuLu in my suitcase.

And then we came home and found Isabella (Izzy). She’s also black. And a cat. Which means Nick has been calling her LuLu ever since we brought her home.

And now Mike has started calling her LuLu.

And Maggie calls her Isabella.

And I call her Izzy (except for the few random times I have called her LuLu too.)

And they called her Kelly at the shelter.

So her official name is now Isabella (Izzy) LuLu Kelly Happy Day.

But I’m pretty sure you can call her whatever and she will love you just the same.

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Meet Izzy

Posted on August 8, 2010 by brigidday| 4 Comments

We did it. We got a kitten.

We got to Happy Tales about 8 minutes before they opened on Saturday. The children spent those 8 minutes with their noses pressed to the glass.

We held quite a few kittens. They were (almost) all sweet in their own way. But we settled on a dear 3-month-old kitten who was going by the name Kelly. We waited until we got out the door before calling her by her new name – Isabella Happy Day, Izzy for short. She’s such a lover. Purrs constantly. Begs to be held and petted.

But after a short car ride and coming into a new home, she chose to hang out under the basement stairs for about 4 hours. We left her alone after trying to coax her out and about the third time I checked on her, she meowed and came right to me. (Those are her eyes looking out at us.)

(Could my child look any longer? I think not.)

(And those shoes barely fit her.)

I tried to get a good picture for longer than I care to admit. Kittens are kind of quick. By today, she finally slowed down long enough to let me get a few shots. So without further ado, meet Izzy.

More photos to come. I assure you. :)

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Posted in Brigid, Izzy, Maggie, Nicholas, parenting - my way, the lived in house

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numbers

Posted on August 7, 2010 by brigidday| 2 Comments

Number of days the children and I were gone on vacation: 11

Number of states we drove through: 5

Number of states we spent the night in: 3 (not counting our own state)

Number of time changes: 6

Number of hours in the car (not counting in-town trips): 32

Number of cats we got to play with: 6

Number of times we ate Steak and Shake: 3

Number of times Maggie asked “How much longer?”: 183

Number of times Nick said “Who?”: 362

Number of potty accidents on the whole trip: 0

Rounds of I-spy: 126

Percent of an entire fruit tart that I consumed in a 24 hour period: 80%

We had a great time. I only had one brief hour of thinking “What have I done?” (and believe it or not, it had nothing to do with the fruit tart.)  We visited with my parents, my brother and his wonderful family, and traveled with my parents to see dear friends who live Up North.

Before leaving, I found the need to flee my everyday life to be huge.  And then the need to return to it, just as enormous. Funny how that works.

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“Why Does Gray Matter?”

Posted on July 9, 2010 by brigidday| 2 Comments

I rarely endorse anything in a way other than “I liked this and thought you might too.” I hate to endorse something and then have someone else hate it. (Or dislike it, as my grandmother would have me say.)

But, having said that, I am about to endorse:

www.RogerDay.com

Roger Day is a musician for children (that parents can enjoy too).  We have seen him live at least three times. He plays every summer at our library and we have been singing his music since the first time we saw him. We have one DVD which is a concert of him singing and playing (and entertaining and being funny.) And we just bought his newest CD “Why does Gray Matter?” and have been listening to it constantly.

If you have kids, have a sense of humor and are looking for something new to listen to, check him out.

**For the FTC – I am not being paid in any way to talk about Roger Day or his music. My friend called me a groupie, but I think he’s a really cool guy playing really cool music, so that’s why I’m talking about him.

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“red one”

Posted on June 19, 2010 by brigidday| Leave a comment

If I had been a proper blogger over the last few months, you would already know that Maggie went to Chicago for a week before her birthday. She stayed with my parents and got to do and go and see.

I stayed home with Nick. And had another stomach bug. Though, I was grateful to only have to crawl from the bed to feed/clothe/change the channel for one person, instead of two.

When Maggie returned she explained to me a game they had been playing in Chicago where you announce the color of a VW bug every time you see one. Slug bug. I knew the game. You know the game. We all know the game. But she kept explaining the rules to me. Ahem.

We hit a snag early on when she began to disqualify all of my spottings. She said it only counted if the other person saw it. So, when I called one out, she would refuse to look until it was two blocks away and then say “I didn’t see it. Everyone has to see it. That’s the rule.”

So I did what any caring mother does.

I refused to play.

We managed to come to an agreement that we would be on the same team. (Her idea.) Therefore, it was in her interest to “see” the ones that I saw. (The competitiveness in this girl is like nothing I have ever seen – well, except when I look in the mirror. Or at my brother. Or at my dad. Hmmm.)

So now, we call out the occasional yellow one or black one. And EVERY time she says “Girls against boys.”

And then Nick says “Red one.” (Or whatever the color of the random car that he sees next to the beetle is.)

And I smile at how different my children are.

One of these days, if the “girls” are ever behind, (which would be impossible since we are the only ones playing and Nick doesn’t actually spot beetles) I’ll use my ace in the hole and drive her past the car lot where they are lined up just waiting to be called out.


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in charge

Posted on June 12, 2010 by brigidday| Leave a comment

The plan:

Mike would cut the grass (he cuts the grass more often than anyone I know. I think the neighbors are going to start stealing the spark plugs from our mower) and I would get the kids dressed and send them outside to play while I went to get my biennial eye exam. (Thus far I have not ever needed any corrective lenses, but I fear this is the year that is going to change…)

What happened:

Mike went out to cut the grass. I asked the children eighteen times to get dressed and was ignored eighteen times. I tried to pull out the big guns – the promise of bubbles, and was again, denied. In a moment of frustration, I said “Fine. I’m taking a shower. You guys are in charge. Do whatever you want.”

I came out of the shower to find they had set up an impromptu tea party in Maggie’s room. They were working together, playing quietly, having a snack (or six).

Maggie told me she had put down towels on top of towels on top of towels on their table (bed) so if anything spilled it would be OK.

I snapped a few shots and went on about my business.

“Mom, Nick made a mess.”

“You’re in charge, honey.”

“Oh.”

A few minutes later as I sat to type this, Maggie wandered in to the living room.

“What is Nick doing?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” she said shrugging her shoulders.

“You’re in charge. You better go find out.”

“Being in charge is hard,” she said walking out of the room to find her brother.

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sticking my toes back in

Posted on May 6, 2010 by brigidday| 1 Comment

I don’t even know where to begin. Honestly. This is the longest “blog break” I have taken since starting almost two years ago.

Maybe you heard about the flood our area had last weekend? Then again, if you’re not close by, maybe you haven’t heard about the flood. It seems to be kind of a non-issue to the rest of the country.

So much of the Nashville and surrounding areas have been damaged. Much is still underwater, after 4 days of sun and 80 degrees. The area I live in had 17 inches of rain in a 48-hour period. That’s 29% of our yearly rain in the span of two days.

We took in 7 inches of water in our basement. Half of our basement was unfinished, mostly used for storage and laundry. The other half was carpeted – with a couch, TV and bookshelf-lined walls.

We were lucky. We came out with minimal damages compared to so many people whose two-story houses were completely underwater. Imagine that for a moment. A two-story house. Underwater.

Lives were lost. Lifetimes of work were lost. Parts of Nashville’s history were lost.

*******

Two weeks before the flood, we met with the team that evaluated Nick for special services. After a month-long wait, he did in fact qualify. So he was due to start just a few days later. He will attend his new school four days a week for a few more weeks, then his old school for most of June. July is our “vacation” month (which really just means the kids won’t have to be anywhere and we are free to visit family and friends.) Then he will continue at the new school in August. That is a lot of transition for a guy like Nick. Making such important decisions in the interest of my child is not something I take lightly. He seems to like the new school and definitely enjoys the shorter day. (He’s a mama’s boy – what can I say?)

*******

The same afternoon as our two-hour meeting with the education team (which was emotionally exhausting, by the way) Mike had his yearly check up at the oncologist.

This would be the day we would find out he had a “spot” on the x-ray of his lung. This would be the day my life would tilt off its axis for the second time in our ten-year marriage.

And we would wait for seven days for the follow-up CT scan. Seven of the longest days of my life. Days where I wondered how I would explain chemo to my children. Days where I looked at our possessions, debating how much I would be able to sell them for. Days where I imagined the worst, all while trying to hope for the best.

The spot would turn out to be a shadow. Nothing more. We were given our lives back. The lives that we are comfortable with. The lives that we often complain about. The lives that seem filled with petty problems when facing something of such monumental importance.

*******

Nick still has horrible bug bites on his neck. Six weeks later. We have new instructions to apply two different creams a total of five times a day. I am not freaking out about it like I was before, but I will be a happy mom when they finally heal.

*******

Maggie had a very minor, minor stomach bug for two days. Well, minor to most of you. For me to watch her dry heave and turn green was so not what I wanted to wake up to. Especially knowing we have a water shortage right now and are not allowed to do laundry.  But she’s better now and went back to school today.

*******

I have a ton of photos to post. I have had almost zero time for posting with the change in schedule and end-of-year activities and, you know, being scared out of my mind, and, well, the flood.

Is there anything I have forgotten? Did I manage to sum up three weeks of hell in less than 700 words?

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Laughing is good

Posted on April 14, 2010 by brigidday| 1 Comment

So, Maggie came home today from school on the bus just like always. But today, I met her on the porch and we hung out for a few minutes (so I could check her head for lice.) (Did I sneak that in there?) Lice are not something I am hoping we have to deal with, but a few of Maggie’s friends from school are dealing with them, so we are just keeping an eye out.

Honestly,  a few months ago or so, lice might have bothered me. These days, it just seems like a right of passage. A pain in the ass, no doubt, but at least it’s not a huge mystery.

So we seem to still be all clear, and I was taking my picture of the day and Maggie checked the mail and we were about to head in for her snack when I heard the little sound of Nick trying to get out of the front door. I went to the door to let him out, let us in and lo and behold, he had locked the door.

I had no shoes. No phone. No bra.

(And for anyone who spends much time around me – umm, hello, my phone is practically glued to my hand, but I’m trying to unplug a little, spend time with the kids. See what happens??)

Hmmmm.

So I laughed. Because really, what else can you do in this situation. Then I tried to talk him into turning the key to unlock the door. He gave it his best effort, but I’m pretty sure locking it was a fluke, so unlocking it was unlikely. After a few attempts I moved to plan B.

At which point I see Nick is naked from the waist down. Which could mean a few things. Only one of them good. And that made me laugh even harder.

I asked Nick to open our garage door. I was pretty sure the house door to the garage was unlocked, and since he’s a giant of a 3YO, he can reach the button to open the garage.

Sure enough, by the time we got around back he was waiting for us.

“Can you wipe me? I went poopy in the potty.”

Oh happy day.

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wild ride

Posted on April 14, 2010 by brigidday| 4 Comments

The huge sigh of relief you may have heard on Monday came from me right after the doctor said Nick’s preliminary blood work looked normal. To say I was anxious about it would be quite an understatement. And I almost feel like I need to defend my anxiety. So here in a nutshell:

1. I decided NOT to google swollen lymph nodes, even though Nick’s is still the size of a large grape. And hard. And fixed. Hard and fixed are way worse than just large. But I wasn’t going to look and I wasn’t going to panic.

2. I did decide to google “toddler peeling feet” because his feet have been peeling and I wondered if I should keep him in socks to keep dirt away/wick away any sweat, keep him in bare feet to give it air, or whatever. You know, just your average curious what is this and what’s the best way to go about making it go away. At which point the first hit was “toddler peeling feet and swollen lymph nodes.” Um, yeah, we have that. And red eyes? Yep. And that would be Kawasaki Disease. Say what? Well, Kawasaki Disease is not anything any of us want, but luckily the main symptom is a fever. A fever that can last for 10-15 days. Whew. No fever for us. But, well, strep usually has a fever and he didn’t get that fever. And Scarlet Fever usually has a fever (hence, the name) and he didn’t have a fever with that. So I googled “Kawasaki Disease without fever” and sure enough it’s possible, though extremely rare, but possible.

I want to reiterate. I was googling his peeling feet. I was not trying to come up with some crazy diagnosis. But I worried. And then I didn’t. And then I did. And then I didn’t. By the time I got to the doctor’s office two days later, I was a bit of a mess. So when the doctor said she thought the lymph nodes were still the result of the bug bites (that are still there, and are not healing) I was relieved, but I wasn’t convinced. She didn’t make me ask for the blood work (another reason I love her), but said she was running it for my piece of mind.

3. Some of you are aware, my husband was ill about 10 years ago. I urged him to go to the doctor for what everyone else thought was “nothing.” He finally went and the doctor said it was nothing. They removed a mole and we went on with our newlywed lives. Everyone was able to say “I told you so” to me. And then a month later they called back to say that in fact something was wrong. And he needed surgery tomorrow. Except he was out of town. Which didn’t matter. They wanted him back tomorrow and that is what would eventually happen. And after his first surgery I noticed a swollen lymph node. Right behind his ear. (The very same one that is swollen in Nick.)

We went back to the doctor and the Mike’s node was tested and we were told they were 98% it was all OK. They were going to send it to a specialist to test and we would find out in a day or two. But 98%, come on. Those are pretty good odds, yes?

No.

It came back positive. And more surgeries took place. And it was a hellish, horrible time.

And no less than three doctors told me that I saved my husband’s life. Because I noticed a mole. And followed up. And noticed a lymph node. And followed up. And it’s been 10 years. And we have each other and we have our children. But seeing that particular swollen, hard, fixed lymph node on Nick has been extremely unsettling. Traumatic. I have run little moments from 10 years ago over and over in my head. I have wondered if we are going there again. I have, admittedly, taken the route of fear.

Another conversation I wish I could erase was when Mike’s doctor told me that no matter what precautions were taken, I would most likely be the one that would notice a recurrence. I don’t know if I can express what kind of pressure that put on me.  Or at least, what pressure I put on myself because of that statement.

Fast forward to 10 years later. And that damn swollen node.

I am greatly comforted by the normal blood work. I recognize that this is likely nothing more than a crappy reaction to some bug bites (OK, 32 bug bites in a very small area.) But my stomach still drops a little bit every time I see that swollen node.

And you will be very proud of me. I have NOT googled the new prescription cream even though it has words like Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes on the insert.

(OH, NO. After bragging, I thought I might as well look them up since they are right here on my computer. Mother of pearl – why do I do these things?)

I guess what I’m trying to say is, yes, I know I tend to overreact. And, yes, I have some baggage. And, no, I don’t enjoy it. And, yes, I’m working on healthier ways to deal. But I won’t ignore what I see. And I won’t discount what my gut tells me. And I won’t apologize for needing proof.

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