Growing by Leaps and Bounds

A New Update!!!

2011-05-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the school year is now almost over. Michael has had a few 'FIRSTS' this year. He went to his first school dance. He joined the choir and has sang in his first choir concert. His second one is coming up on June 3rd. He had his first girl invited to his 12th birthday party! I think he has even had his first crush on a girl :) So, yes, it has been a year full of 'Firsts'. He also recently started giving his injections himself. Surprised the heck out of me! I got to admit, it was actually kind of sad the day he did it. All I have to do now is remind him and he gets it all done himself. Never thought I would see that day. Since not much is going on that is really newsworthy, (all that tends to belong to his brother unfortunately), I will post pictures taken throughout the year.

He is in the red jersey in the center.

Halloween. They both won prizes for their costumes.

Ready for the game to start....

Practicing for Goal

12th BIRTHDAY!!!

I think we are on Year SIX of Star Wars!

Update....

2010-09-11T20:49:00.000-07:00

Michael is now in the SIXTH grade!! Hard to believe we started this whole journey when he was in the FIRST grade.

My little man is not so little anymore. He is a big JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLER! Hard to imagine that he was just barely over 3ft tall when we gave him his first shot. Now he is over 4ft tall, wears a size 7 shoe(adult size mind you), and weighs nearly 80 pounds. He is ice skating, swimming, and playing ice hockey. He has caught up to the 5th percentile, and is doing just great. His former endo. has retired, and this week will be the first time he sees the new doctor. We need a new prescription for his meds and that is pretty much it. Simple. He takes the shots with no problem and for all purposes he is a regular pre-teen boy.

First Day in New Zealand

2009-09-27T22:38:00.001-07:00

Well, I made it to New Zealand in one piece. Here on my own for three weeks for a work related trip. Well, not totally on my own, but the boys are back home either holding down the fort or burning it down..LOL.

Have not had a chance to take any pictures yet--we have been busy today with work related stuff. I just got off around 5pm. Had to hitch a ride with some of the crew as the main bus left a few hours before. But, I had work to do, so no big deal. Got back to my room (ok, small apartment is more like it) changed, then went to the store and got some food. We have a little kitchen in our rooms (I know, I am really roughing it on this one..) so I got some food thatI can make for dinner, and some sandwich stuff. The weather here is rainy and chilly for right now. They are just coming out of their winter here in NZ (being south of the equator and all)..so it is not exactly brilliant outside. Anyway, just wanted to post real quick before I eat. I am posting all my NZ stuff on Michael's page because he wanted me to. Michael, I love you buddy and I miss you! I can't wait to get back home to you guys!!

Busy Day!

2009-08-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

We had to get up a little earlier to make Michael's appointment this morning. Fine for us. Not so fine for Mike as I had to leave him with Nicholas. Michael decided to pick out his clothes for today last night and sleep in them. (I suppose it does save some time..right??) Nick was already up when we left and I changed him and gave him his morning milk sippy. Mike got up when we left and gave Nick some crackers.

Michael was measured at 51" and 63lbs. He has crawled back to the 5th%ile on the charts!YAY! While we were there we renewed his prescription and took two viles of blood. He was a champ the whole time, and even told me that it did not hurt. (Although I could see his face contort somewhat when they were looking for a vein) He did not even want me to hold his hand. Truth be told, he could have done most of this all on his own-all I seemed to do was drive him there. He has done this so many times that he is a pro and takes it with a grain of salt. No change in the doseage for now. That might change when they get the bloodwork back with his hormone levels.

We got back just as Tracy was walking up to the door to start with Nick. Michael wanted to go out to lunch with just mommy, so after we dropped off his meds we were off again for a mommy/son lunch. We walked around Target for a bit and picked up some training pants for Nick and Michael got a Star Wars Lego set. Nick is now working with Stephanie for his last session of the day; then it is dinner,bath,bed and we start all over again tomorrow.

Another Growth Checkup

2009-02-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

Michael had another growth check with Dr M. yesterday. He is now 49.6" tall and 62 lbs!! Dr M. did say that his growth velocity has slowed down a bit since last year; which he said he did expect that to happen sometime; so he increased his doseage to 1.05 from .08mg. He is very conservative about the doses, and Michael has been on a very low dose for about three years now and has been doing very well. He also said we might think of looking into ADHD for him as well. Michael has a very hard time focusing. We can tell him to do his chores or read, and one minute later he is taking a bath-he forgets that we told him to do something else. We will see as the year progresses, but we do notice that Michael has a harder time controlling himself than other kids his age.

As for Michael himself, well,he has become very interested in being in a band. He told me today that him and his buddies have started a band :) Oh the teenage years are going to be a blast...LOL!

My Rocker!

2009-01-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

SLEDDING!!

Michael took this picture of the lake by our house.

We got Guitar Hero for Christmas, and ever since then, Michael has turned into quite the rock-n-roller. He is getting into bands like Guns 'N Roses, Aerosmith,and Black Sabbath. This is his last day of winter break. We have had fun during his vacation-staying up late, watching movies at home, baking cookies, and playing in the snow. We went to see the movie "Bolt" last weekend and I enjoyed every second of time with him. He is getting to be so grown up. I know that might be crazy to say since he is only 9 right now, but his tenth birthday is right around the corner and he is looking forward to getting his very own dependent I.D. card! He and Mike do a lot of the "manly" chores around the house, and even the not so manly ones. I need to make another appointment with his Dr and get a refill on his meds. I have measured him against the wall, and he comes to 49". Above are some pictures from his winter break.

Halloween, and etc.

2008-11-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I updated this blog, not because I don't want to, just because we have been busy with work,school,therapies,etc. These photos were taken on Halloween night. Michael was a Ninja. The boys had the day off of school, so we had been running errands and working on Nick's costume ALL day. Honestly, I was glad to get the night over with. I heated up some ravioli for dinner, and we went out trick-or-treating first with the neighbors and their kids. After about an hour doing that,Michael and I dropped Nick off at home(he was getting out of sorts) and then just Michael and I went out. It was great just walking with him down the street, chatting about things, enjoying the nice weather. Just him and I. No yelling, no homework, no pesky little brothers, no rush. It was nice. Since then, the weather has turned much colder and wetter, and we are back to reality. Now we are being forced to change schools-after we fought to get Michael accepted into his current school, now we are being told that both boys will have to attend the school closer to us because too many kids from our neighborhood are going where they are at now. UGH! I love the school they are at now!! That is the reason we chose that school! Tuesday night we watched the election, and needless to say were quite happy with the results! Michael was so excited that Obama won! He was really into this election, and they even had a pretend election at school(although, he will tell you it was real..LOL!) He was watching as every state reported their ballots, and for a while, it looked like Florida was going for "the other guy", Michael flat out yelled "Mommy! We got to call Nana and tell her to change her vote!!" LOL! It was funny. Typical Michael.

Snapshot(s) Sunday

2008-10-26T09:09:00.001-07:00

Look at those leg muscles!

Some photos of our last soccer game of the season.

Ramblings.....

2008-09-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

We had another soccer game today at noon. It was rainy and the temps hovered around 60 degrees, fall has definitely appeared. They won 4-2 I think. Did not get any pictures as it was a crappy day out, and we watched the game from the Jeep. We brought Michael and one of his friends home from the game and they played video games for a couple of hours. Michael is now at their house, spending the night. Anyway, at his new school, Michael comes across a lot more handicapped kids than he ever did at his old school. Last week we had a chance to really discuss the fact that he is around so many of them now. Michael told me that he did not like the handicapped kids because they could not use their legs to walk, or run, etc. I don't think he meant that he did not like them, I got the impression from what he said that he felt bad for them. I told him that he could find some other things that he possibly had in common with them, other than playing sports. I told him that "I bet they like video games just like you do. Or the same tv shows". He was trying to wrap his mind around the idea that some kids cannot use their legs. He has seen Dwarfs walking around, and he knows that if he did not have his medicine that he would be a dwarf also. Technically I guess you could say that he still is one, but his form is just treatable nowadays. He told me "Maybe if they used their legs more they could learn how to walk?". "Maybe" I said. "But there are also conditions where they will never be able to use their legs" I continued. Then, I told him that people would consider Nick to be handicapped. "He is not handicapped!" he retorted. "He can walk and run". I then told him that some handicaps you can't see, and others you can. Then went on to say "I don't think Nick is handicapped either, just others might consider him to be." I think being in the mix with all different kids is going to be good for him. I have also recieved reports from him that there is a kid that bullies him. The first I heard of this, I told him to tell a teacher about what happens. The next day he told me the kid had pushed him down again, and he went and told his teacher. If it happens again this week, then I am going to the school to report it to the principle.

Living on the Spectrum: The Dread of Soccer Season.......#links#links

2008-09-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Living on the Spectrum: The Dread of Soccer Season.......#links#links

New Look.....New School

2008-09-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

I thought Michael's blog could use a fresh new look. Michael is now in the FOURTH grade! I can't believe it!! He is going to the same school that Nick is in this year, and so far, this school seems to be a little tougher academically. They have homework every night, including Fridays. Michael is growing and eating well. At his last checkup I think he was around 56lbs, and just over 4ft tall. He is playing soccer again this year, and we have a game tomorrow. I will post more then with some pictures!

Goodbye Maggi...

2008-07-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

I will miss you and love you forever. Hope you are having fun in heaven.

New Update

2008-05-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

This month has been real busy. Last weekend Michael had his Starfire soccer tournament and we spent most of the weekend in Tukwila. He only played for the first half in the last of four games; but he did very well. Overall, they tied 3 games and lost one. Michael was kind of upset the coach only put him in one game. I can't say that we were exactly happy about it either. The medicine that he takes for his growth has one minor set-back: It makes him hyper. It was fairly un-noticeable when he was younger as he was ALWAYS on the go. But now that he is getting older, it is noticeable..and is starting to set him apart from the other kids his age. As if his size was not enough, now we have this added to it. Why can't my boy get a break? For about a day and a half he was forced to sit for hours on end, the coach would get mad at any of the kids if they went to play on the playground in between games-but the other kids would get to play in the games-Michael just sat more on the sidelines. Anyway, I digress...

The weekend prior to that; we took the trailer out camping at a KOA campground in SeaTac. Michael had a WONDERFUL time swimming, and going for walks. We also played Monopoly, and just enjoyed each other's company. We are planning another trip in July and we can't wait!! Don't know exactly where we will end up going as of yet--we all want to see our good friends in Spokane; and we also want to see the Bavarian Town of Leavenworth,WA. So many choices!!

We are also thinking of sending Michael to the same school as Nick next year. I am going tomorrow to see what I will have to do in order to make that happen. Michael told me he wants to see his brother at school during the day..just like everyone else..he says. Him and Nick share a very close bond.

My Baby Turns Nine!!

2008-05-05T00:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 1st, at 6:25pm Michael turned 9yrs old! He got a couple of presents that night, and as a complete surprise, I let him go to a movie with daddy on Friday morning. Yes, he skipped school. Oh well. I work from Tuesday to Saturday, so it was really the only time they could have gone. I figured, What's one Friday?? Anyway, he had his birthday party with his friends today and he had a really good time. He got quite a few presents:

From us: A new Monopoly game, Star Wars Legos, Speed Racer legos, a skateboard and pads.

Aunt Christy: our new fave game, Electronic Battleship
Nana & Grandpa: Wal-Mart gift card
Grandpa: $25
Friends: A puzzle, Speed Racer cars, a Super Soaker, and more Legos.

Our soccer tournament is coming up on Memorial Day weekend! Not much longer!

March Update

2008-03-30T01:33:00.001-07:00

Michael had a science project to do this month. We built a volcano(that is it in the pic) and he had to make it erupt. He took it to school and it erupted in the school yard with all of the other "volcanoes". His was the most abstract. He helped to make it and decorate it-so it was HIS project. We had fun making the clay and decorating it together.

We had some behavior issues that popped up this month and were dealt with. He is now back in soccer, and will be back in karate next month. Speaking of soccer, his team won their last game today. We let him play in the last one, and he did really good. His coach is starting up a league off base to go to a tournament next month. Michael desperately wants to go; so it looks like we might have more soccer to come.

Tonight I took Michael in to work with me. He got to do all kinds of cool stuff! He said he had a great time and it was nice to just get some time alone with him. He got quite a few treats tonight that he normally does not get. He had two sodas, some candy, and we went to Burger King for Dinner. This boy chowed down on a Whopper Jr. plus french fries and was asking for more!! I remember just a couple of years ago we could barely get him to eat anything; and now look at him!

February Update

2008-02-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

This month has been busy for Michael. Around the first of the month he tried out for a soccer team down in Olympia. We should find out if he made it the first part of March. The first day of try outs was 40 degrees and raining-Michael was very cold and he barely made it through the hour long practice. He went back on the second day dressed a little warmer and did much better. He is also playing soccer on base with the 9-11 yr olds. They practice twice a week for two hours at a time, and he also has karate twice a week. We are going full steam here 4 days a week, and games on Saturdays. He also has a tournament in karate coming up in either March or April.

Dr Appt and other stuff

2008-01-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

Wednesday Michael has his Dr appt for a growth check. He is just a hair shy of 4ft!! I mean seriously, they said 47.75 inches! He now weighs 53lbs. All of this finally puts him in the 3rd% on the growth charts!! I feel this summer will really put some gray hairs on my head with all the roller coasters he wants to ride...UGH!

Yesterday he tested for his orange/white belt in Tae-kwon-do. They also did a little sparring. There were tons of kids there for testing so it took about 3 hours. He got his belt though and he did really good. Here are a couple of photos:

Sparring

Testing for his belt

Recieving his new belt from one of the Masters.

Holding his old belt; wearing his new one
Today we went to Auburn to watch his best friends from Spokane skate at their meet. We were only able to stay for a couple of hours because I have to work tonight; but we had a great time watching them and talking. The kids don't have school tomorrow-so right now Michael is over at a friends house spending the night. It is supposed to snow for the next day or so, so we will see if they get a snow day this year.

Man with Red Hair....

2008-01-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today I took Michael to get his hair cut. He originally wanted them to color it as well, but the place we went to does not do that. So, afterwards, we went to Sally's Beauty place and found some red hair dye. We also found some blue hair spray stuff that he also wanted. Here are some of the pics from our event of dying hair:

checking himself out in the mirror

what a goofball!

what happens when you eat too many carrots!!

This will be a busy week for Michael. He has a doctor appt. on Wednesday. They will draw blood to measure his hormone levels and probably take an x-ray to see what his bone-age is now. Then on Saturday he tests for his next belt. We have to get up early and get everyone there by 8:30am and we will spend the morning at the meet. Sunday we hope to meet up with our friends from Spokane and go skating. Should be a fun weekend!

Christmas Vacation

2007-12-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

Michael started his vacation on Thursday. It is a nice break for him and us. He has been just relaxing and hanging around the house with daddy and Nick. We have been watching Christmas movies, baking cookies, and he helped me put up some decorations last weekend. We went to his Tae-kwon-do event last weekend and I took some video of the kids' performance.

Christmas Slideshow

2007-12-23T00:57:00.001-08:00

Sparring

2007-12-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Michael had his first chance to spar last night. Sparring is held at the North West Tae-Kwon-Do Association's little gym in Spanaway. He practiced with kids of all different belts from different schools around the area. One of the boys from his class was there too, so they sparred against each other. We were there from 6:30pm to 9pm. The one thing the pictures cannot convey is how COLD it was in that place. They had two medium sized heaters running the whole time, but it was still very cold. He did very well. They did an hour of warm-ups...sit-ups, push-ups, running, jumping, and all kinds of other stuff. Michael said he had LOTS of fun. The Association has won many championships, and they had all their medals hanging on the walls. Needless to say, he was exhausted by the time we got home, and went to bed after he took a bath. Here are some pics:

Thanksgiving update

2007-11-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Michael got his report card this week, and needless to say, we were not too happy with the results. He still has problems sitting still in class and following directions. He would like nothing more than to talk to his friends the whole time. His marks were all over the place. I don't know why, but in third grade here they still give kids the "S", "N", "S+", and "S-",s. We have told him no sleepover's until he pulls his grades up.

For Turkey day we just stayed around the house. Everyone has been under the weather with a cold, and we are still dealing with the lingering effects of that. Michael took a whole turkey drum stick and ate the whole thing. He looked like a caveman!! He is very excited about Christmas coming up, and we see Dr. M again in January to see how much more he has grown. He has another loose tooth on the bottom that is about to fall out. He is really liking his Tae-kwon-do class. They start "sparring" next week with the other kids in class. Here he is in his uniform:

November update

2007-11-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have been almost uneventful. Just a few days after the last update, Michael and two of his friends were playing outside. They were playing with rocks; seeing how far they could throw them. Well, Michael ended up getting hit in the head with one of the bigger rocks and it fractured his skull. One of the boys came to our house to tell Mike what had happened, and then he called me at work. Michael was taken by ambulance to the hospital-and we spent the next few hours in the ER getting him cleaned and bandaged up. He had two staples put in his head as the gash was about an inch or so and all the way down to the bone. He got the staples out a week later, and is healed up now.

He has been taking Tae-kwon-do for about a month now and just got his white belt. He loves it. School is school. Nothing much there. We will see how his report card looks. He is never interested in doing homework, and it is always a struggle. He tends to talk and socialize in class too much-which has always been a problem of his. Right now we are looking forward to Thanksgiving; and then Christmas. Michael and I both Love this time of year. Have a great Thanksgiving!

An update on my Big Guy!

2007-10-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Michael is just growing too fast! I cannot believe he is eight years old already! I have found some pictures that I thought you all would enjoy looking at. Soccer season is now over. They won their last game yesterday. Michael scored the tie-breaking goal-and boy was he happy!

He now has a new interest besides soccer. No, not girls..yet. But Tae-Kwon-Do. He starts that tomorrow. It goes year-round, so next season we will have to change our soccer days to accomodate. He can even go to tournaments when he gets a little more experience. He is very excited about this and has been going around the house practicing his kicks and punches.

School is going good so far. We will see what his report card brings. His teacher e-mails me when needed to tell me about his day. That sure can scare the crap out of an eight year old!! He never knows when she is going to write me...Bwuahaaahaaahaaa!

Anyway, life is busy over on this side. With my two boys, hubby, work, and school it seems like I am constantly busy. Even on weekends.

I was going through some old pictures this weekend, and guess what I found!

This is Michael in his first season of soccer at 5 yrs old!
Here he is now:

Michael

2007-10-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Dr Appt

2007-09-19T20:25:00.001-07:00

Michael had another growth check today with Dr M. His appointment was at 9:45, and by some miracle we were actually on time! Nick had an early morning therapy session at 8:30, so I had to take Michael. I picked him up from school at 9am-and we were off. I managed to find a parking space fairly quickly(also a miracle!) and we were in the waiting area by 9:30. The receptionist handed me his records-which I exclaimed to Michael "You have a NOVEL here!" and put the whole folder in our time slot on the wall. He got his vitals taken (he is an old pro at this stuff) and then we waited for about 45 minutes to see Dr M.

Dr M gave Michael a thorough look see; and asked his usual questions. "Any headaches?", "Any dry skin?", "Blurred vision?, nausea, swelling?" All of them were "Nope". He then plotted Michael's growth on the charts. He has finally made it back up to the 5th percentiles. He was way below those when we started; so that was nice to see. Dr M increased his doseage to 8 "clicks" on our current cartridges, then he prescribed some new ones in which we then give him only 2 "clicks"-but it is a greater "potency" I should say. So, we are to finish out our remaining meds at 8 "clicks", and then go on to the new meds. He wants us back in mid-January for another work-up. They will draw blood to measure his hormone levels, and do another bone scan then. He also gave us permission to take a night off each week. Which was completely fine with Michael!

Michael measured in at 46.5" and hovering around 50 pounds. Please pray that the increased dose does not give him any negative side effects(other than growing). I gave him the first dose tonight with the 8 "clicks" so we shall see. He is very excited about the thought of getting even bigger than he is now-but we are always leary of any aches or pains-especially headaches.

The end of summer....

2007-09-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

Michael started the third grade this year! I can't believe my once little guy has grown into a full fledged eight year old. Where did the time go? He is still playing soccer, and they have their second game coming up on Saturday. Michael has an appointment on the 19th with Dr M to see how much he has grown, and possibly increase his doseage. We also need refills on the meds and needles. In case you all did not see the pictures I sent, here is one of him with no top teeth.

Hope everyone had a great summer :) Now we are looking forward to the fall. After a few months of 80's and even some 90's, I am ready for the 60's(which are coming up this weekend)and the fall foliage. The trees have already started changing color and some have lost all their leaves already. Not looking forward to the rain, but maybe some snow!

In Memory of Sept 11th

2007-09-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming to an end.....

2007-08-17T19:36:00.001-07:00

Michael had a great time at soccer camp this week! He played for Spain this year, and just had a great time. He really liked his coaches and even got to play a little bit with the older kids. He learned about off-sides and penalty cards, and a few tricks. Last night we had to make the Spanish flag so that we could take it to his games today. In the picture you can see him painting it. He has grown another shoe size, and is now a size 2. The other night I came home to find him eating an entire Whopper by himself!

We had his school physical Thursday. He is now 46" and a whopping 51 POUNDS! We need to make another appointment with Dr. M to see if we need to increase his doseage. Right now, he is at a "6", but based on his growth and weight gain, he might need to go up to a "7". That is what the pediatrician said when she plotted his growth. He had to get one shot and then we were done. He is ready to go to third grade. His other top tooth is very loose now, and I am thinking he could lose that one this weekend. Maybe he will look like most of the other kids in his class now with their teeth missing!

We get a two day break from soccer camp, and then we start the whole soccer thing again on Monday. This time it is the regular season. Back to being very busy for the next couple of months. (As if we are not busy enough??) It was great while it lasted! Back to the grind next month.

Soccer "Camp"

2007-08-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a day off, so Michael, Nick and I biked up to the Youth Center to sign him up for soccer camp. He has been soooo excited about this since the beginning of summer! This year, he gets to stay all day at the field. He is looking forward to playing again. The regular season starts on the 20th, and I am sure he will need a new pair of cleats. Mike and I are going to sit this season out as far as coaching and being the Team Parent-we are taking a break! Although I do enjoy being team mom, it can get a little stressful at times dealing with parents. He has his physical on the 16th and a little after that, it is back to school! I can't believe how fast this year is going by.

A Fun day!!

2007-07-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today I took both boys to the Mall, and we had a blast. Michael celebrated Nick eating french fries with us and even mugged for the camera...

Michael is growing up I am afraid. Today, he wanted a full fledged MEAL-not a Happy Meal, but a grown up meal!! I told him there would not be a toy inside and he said "I know; I don't care." So, yes, that is HIS medium drink you see in the pic, not mine! He shared his fries with Nick, but ate about 80% of the food himself. After that, we went to Build-A-Bear; where he got a little stuffed animal. A Husky dog that he named "Rudolph". Here is a pic of Michael and "Rudolph".

Help me to help my Brother.....

2007-07-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

This is my SITE to help my brother and best friend in their struggle with autism and asperger's. I will be walking along with my mom, my brother Nick, and our friends from Spokane. I know it is a couple of months away, but we want to raise as much money as we can before October, so we are getting an early start!!

Happy 4th of JULY!!

2007-07-04T16:26:00.000-07:00

Summer Break!!

2007-07-02T22:42:00.001-07:00

Michael has been out of school for just over a week now and is spending his days playing with his friends. He has a new friend who just moved in next door, and they get along like two peas in a pod. Michael has been over to his house nearly every day-and they run all over the place in between our two houses and the house across the street. Michael has come home drenched in water more times than I can count. We went and got him enrolled in the summer reading program at the library and he has read two books so far. He also has another loose tooth, and should have a nice tan going by the end of summer. He spends most of his days shirtless and soaked. What better summer for an 8yr old??

Not sure what we are doing for the 4th of July yet. We will probably head on over to Ft. Lewis-they have a nice fireworks display and it is close to home so we don't have to deal with the traffic. Mike plans on taking Michael to see the movie Transformers tomorrow. They are both excited, as am I at the thought of only having one boy to deal with instead of 3!

SURF'S UP

2007-06-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Michael and I went to see this movie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it! It is a very cute movie and we had a great time. Michael had been real good about doing his chores around the house this week, so we thought a movie would be just the thing to reward him with this week. He is pretty excited for school to be out. He has about two more weeks(June 21st) and he will be done. No big plans for summer as of yet. We are looking to spending our time ice-skating,going to movies,going to Wild Waves, and maybe a trip to Spokane to see our friends Ericka and Nathan(and their parents too!LOL!).

Another tooth is gone!!

2007-05-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

Michael finally lost it yesterday afternoon. I am thrilled not to have to look at it hanging by a thread anymore. He came to me yesterday as I was watching tv and was wriggling it all around. I told him to go into the bathroom and do that. I knew he would eventually pull it out; and sure enough, a few minutes later he came back grinning and holding the tooth on a pillow of toilet paper. He is catching up to all his friends who have lost teeth, and I suspect by the start of next school year he will have caught up. He is still on the smaller side, but the gap is closing and he does not stand out so much anymore. He is looking forward to summer vacation starting next month. We have plans for soccer camp, and probably going to Wild Waves again this year. I am thinking about starting up his swimming lessons again and also starting up soccer practices on Fridays. Just trying to keep him somewhat busy.

New music

2007-05-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

I put some new music on here since the old one did not seem to work. Michael told me he wanted songs that "rock" on his page, so I tried to mix it up a bit. Overall, he is doing well. We had a small birthday party for him last weekend with two of his good friends from school. Here are a couple of pictures:

His cake

"Working out" he lifts these 3lb weights everyday.

reading troubles

2007-04-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Michael got his report card this week, and he went down in some areas. He got S-'s in reading comprehension. He also has problems staying on task, and staying in his seat. We noticed this when he would come home and do his homework. He could barely sit and concentrate on any of it. He did it, but as far as reading and understanding the directions he was lost. In kindergarten and first grade, they were concerned about how many words per minute the kids could read. That's all fine and good, but while Michael can read 76 words per minute-he does not understand any of it. So,we have cut out tv watching, and Mike is working with him everynight on his comprehension. (They are reading Mike's old Star Wars collection)I know one of the side effects of the meds he takes is hyperactivity-it just became more noticeable this year. He has always been very active-we did not really see a noticeable change until this term-he just cant sit still. Michael will need to learn how to control himself-since stopping his meds is not an option right now.

March of Dimes

2007-04-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our walk for the March of Dimes. Michael is going to come with me this time. He is excited for now, although I am sure that will end after a mile or so! I am taking a little stroller in case he gets tired...it is 6miles after all. He initially thought this was our walk for autism; which he was excited about too. He was saying "Yeah, we walk to help kids like Nick and Nathan, right?!". I had to tell him this walk was to help babies who were born too soon and are very sick. Then he said "Yeah, and they are REALLY small!" Such a sweet kid he is. Always wanting to help. It is going to be just him and I tomorrow-and I think he is also excited about that. Going somewhere with just mom. I told him after our walk we can go and get lunch somewhere he wants to go. We went to the commissary and I let him pick out some snacks and drinks to take with us, and I am hoping he has fun. I told him that we have to get up early in the morning and he says "Mom; I ALWAYS get up before you!" I was shocked tonight when I was putting them to bed, Michael went into the next room. He came back a few minutes later with clothes in his hands. "These are my clothes for tomorrow. I am putting them here so I can be ready to go!" He never does that! The fact that they matched was an added bonus!!!

Weekend update

2007-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

We did not do too much this weekend. It was nice that we did not have a soccer game to rush to in the mornings. I also plan on taking Michael to my walk next weekend. Yesterday we went and got both boys haircuts. Michael wanted his to be spikey on top and he even wanted it colored Red. They did not have color, so he had to go without. He was kinda bummed about that. I KNOW Aunt Cookie knows how to color hair-I believe it was Kool-aid?? If you read this, could you please e-mail me on how to do it?? He is doing well in school. He is really excited now that he is getting so close to the 48" mark on our wall. That means he will be able to go on ALL the rides--mostly the roller coasters. I believe he is around 46" now. Not too much else to report. Hope everyone has a nice week!

Easter

2007-04-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

Playing with my brother and his new toys!

Playing with one of my new toys

Nicholas and Me

Happy Easter!

Figuring out my new Transformer

Happy Easter!!!

2007-04-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Boys of soccer. Left to right; Michael,Matthew,& Tyler

Today was our last game of the season. Bittersweet. I am happy that I don't have to be the Team Parent anymore,but now we have to find something else to fill time. Michael scored two more goals today. Here is the one I caught on camera:

We won the game 5-2. Michael has also been practicing with the 9-11yr olds, and Thursday the coach told him he could play in their game today. On Thursday,Michael got past their defenders and had five shots on their goal. So,after his game this morning with HIS team, we grabbed some lunch, and then headed back to play with the older kids. Michael and the two other boys who were asked to play today(Tyler is from his team, and Matthew is from another 7-8yr old team) were all excited and everytime the coach yelled "Sub!" all three of them leaped up,ready to go,only to be told "No,not yet guys!" Well,the other coach got mad that they were using kids who were not even on their team and raised a big stink to the refs,and they could not play. Tyler and Michael were so crushed they actually sobbed. Their hopes of playing were dashed in that moment. The older kids were also very upset that Michael could not play. They had practiced with him all season, and they wanted him to play just as much as he did. Here are some pics of him practicing with them. He is the smallest one out there!

Tonight we spent the evening coloring eggs and getting ready for the Easter bunny. Michael is excited and cant wait to see what he gets! Here is his loot this year:

Weekly update

2007-04-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

This week was a bad week for soccer practice. Monday,Michael was at practice and got kicked in the eye. He was ok,and it left no mark on him as far as I could tell when I got home. Tuesday however, he ended up getting kicked on the side of his head. That one left a pretty nice bump by his ear, and he also has a pretty nice bruise on that side. It looks alot worse than it is really. That is just the name of the game though. He has learned to take some knocks and get back up. We had a little talk on Friday about that. He was sulking about getting hurt and did not want to play anymore. I told him soccer is like life. You get knocked down, but you get back up and try again. I told him he would have to just sit on the sidelines and not do anything fun because he was afraid to get knocked over. He practices not only with his own team, but also with the 9-11 yr olds. I asked him if he knew WHY he practices with the older kids? He said "No". I told him "Because you are as good as they are!"(he is!). After a few seconds, he went right on to the field and gave it his all. At yesterdays game-he scored 2 goals and his team won 6-1! He also had one assist! I told him he will have to do that again next week because I did not have the camera with me. Oy vey!!

Weekend

2007-03-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

today i helped my dad with the yard. i am tired and going to watch tv now.

All about me

2007-03-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

i love pizza.my favorite color is red,white,blue,black,red and gold.my favorite character on naruto is gaara came from sand village to leaf village.my best friends are keegan,keoki,ericka,nathan and clay.my favorite movie is star wars epi.1 2 3 4 5 6.my favorite character on star wars is chewbaka.my favorit video game is star wars republic cammando.i can speak english,spanish and german 1-10.

His own page

2007-03-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

I thought that since Nick has his own webpage, that Michael should too. I will have him tell you a little about himself.

Michael

2007-03-24T17:34:00.000-07:00