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Rambles of a Semi Sane Person
by boringscreenname

previous entry: Spencer's Birthday and More Job Stuff

next entry: 10/01/2012

09/02/2012

09/02/2012

Today is Spencer's 4th birthday. I can't believe it, time has been flying lately. We aren't celebrating his birthday until Monday, because I work 12 hour shifts back to back on the weekends and I just don't have the time to get his cake, presents and still get enough sleep. Plus I'm going to donate plasma on Monday so I'll have more money to spend on him. David's sister will watch the kids while we do that, then we'll all go and pick out his cake, let him pick out his gifts (David's sister wants to get him something too), then go home, and celebrate. Sounds like a good plan to me.

School started for Spencer a couple weeks ago. This year I made David go shopping with me. He actually asked me, "Can't we just go to the Dollar Tree and get everything?" Umm no, dear. I'm pretty sure if you could find decent quality school supplies at Dollar Tree then parents would be flocking there in droves. We went to Wal-Mart and bought all his supplies, plus a new pair of shoes and some stuff for the house. We still spent less than $100 for everything, so we didn't do bad at all.

After that we had to go clothes shopping. Spencer outgrew everything this summer which I was expecting. He had very few short sleeve shirts that fit. So we hit up the clearance racks at Wal-Mart and Target. He got a new package of socks, shoes, 7 short sleeved shirts ($3.50 on clearance), 2 long sleeved shirts and a hoodie. I plan on doing a big shopping trip at the end of the month to get all of the kids new fall and winter clothes.

Since Spencer has started school, it's been a huge clusterfuck of stupidity. Let me regale you with those tales.

The day before school started Spencer's teacher called. She asked if we knew that Spencer had been transferred to a different bus in the mornings. Nope we didn't, no one bothered to contact us. She was concerned because the preschoolers have to ride a preschool only bus and it has to have harnesses and she wasn't sure if that bus was or not. She tried to call the transportation department, but couldn't get ahold of them (big surprise there!), so she asked us to contact them. Ok so we did that and found out that yes the bus was for preschoolers only and did have harnesses.

So the first day of school Spencer and I get up at 7, because the bus was supposed to pick him up at 8:05. We went outside to wait at 8, and waited and waited some more. The bus finally showed up at 8:25. The bus driver apologized for being late and said he was trying to work out the kinks in the route and our pick-up time would probably be around 8:10. Ok understandable and not a huge deal.

That afternoon the bus was supposed to drop Spencer off at 12:15, so I went outside to wait. At 12:45 the bus still had not arrived yet, so I called the transportation department. I explained the situation and they transferred me to someone else, who wasn't in the office and I wound up reaching their voicemail (So helpful right?). I called the transportation department back again, and the line was busy. So I just decided to call the school directly. I called the school and the woman who answered told me that my son was taken back to school because no one was outside to get him off the bus. I told her I was outside 5 minutes before the scheduled arrival time and that several buses had been down our street but none had stopped at our house. She told me that it was something I'd have to work out with the bus driver and transportation department then lectured me on the drop off procedure. Then she ended the conversation by saying I could pick up my son Joe at school. I told her my son's name was NOT Joe. Then she finally decides to ask what my son's name is, I tell her and she tells me that oh he's still on the bus. Now why the hell didn't she ask me my child's name to begin with instead of just assuming that I'm an irresponsible parent who's incapable of getting my own kid off the bus? It would've saved us both a lot of time and conversation. The bus finally showed up at 1:05.

The next day I got another call from the teacher. She said that one of his forms was missing. I told her that I filled out all the paperwork she gave us, then put in a manila envelope in his backpack. She goes through it and still can't find it so she said she'd send home another copy. That day when Spencer gets home there's a white envelope stuffed with papers in his bag. I opened it and there was a letter from the nurse informing us that our child needed to have a physical, dental visit, and updated shot records and they included all the forms. The only problem with that is we sent all those forms to school with him, and informed the teacher of this, who agreed to bring them to the nurse. So I called and asked to speak with the nurse. The nurse looked and couldn't even find his file. She went hunting for it, eventually found it and called us back saying he had all the forms he needed but two that we were never given. We did receive the forms the next day, filled them out and returned them, so hopefully that is the end of that.

Then last week we received an e-mail from the teacher about a toileting training group that we might be interested in participating in. She attached all the forms, and I looked the over and noticed that it was for a different county than we live in. I figured maybe the teacher knew more than we did and maybe we could participate anyway, despite living in a different county. So I filled everything out and sent it back into school, only to be told that we aren't eligible because we don't live in that county and she was emailed the wrong information. She's going to do some searching and see if there's a group in our county. I really hope there is because I'd like to get started on toilet training Spencer (and Vivian at the same time) and this group sounds really informative and helpful. So fingers crossed that there is a toilet training group in our county, otherwise I'm going to be disappointed.

During the middle of the week, we had a worker come to our house and tell us they were completely tearing up the sidewalk and tearing the curb out and putting a new one in. He told us we weren't allowed to park in our driveway until it was done. I told him that Spencer's bus picks him up right in front of our house and would they still be able to while the construction was going on. He said it shouldn't be a problem and they'd just lay down some plywood for us to walk over. So on Thursday they started the construction (at 6 freaking AM). Spencer and I went out to wait on the bus, and stood out there waiting. I went inside to check the clock and noticed it was running 10 minutes late. So I called the transportation department. They told me the construction crew refused to let them go down our street so they sent the bus to another street, and tried to call to let us know but didn't have a working phone number for them. I have no idea how that managed to happen because I filled out a million forms and our correct phone number is on all of them. So I gave them our phone number again. Then I called the school to find out what was up with that. The school blamed it all on the computers and said they've been having problems with their computer program and systems. So I gave them our number again, hopefully they get this resolved soon. David wound up driving Spencer in that day, then he picked him up on the side street. No idea how long this is going to go on but I hope it's done soon.

Anyway school problems aside things have been going pretty well. Spencer had his doctor's appointment and is 3 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 33lbs. He's still on the small side for his age but not enough for them to be concerned. Over the summer he was talking less (he still can he's just being quieter than normal). Since school has started he's been talking more. Since I have a better work schedule we're going to try and get him back into speech therapy, and have him evaluated at Cincinnati Children's Hospital again. I think they will diagnose him with Autism and that is something we're fine with. Really the only areas affected are his speech and motor skills. Plus they have a big Autism center at the hospital and they might be able to help us find more programs, groups, classes and resources to help us help him which is a good thing. Plus I'm hoping we can network with other parents and pick their brains and make some new friends.

Vivian is also doing really well. She's 2 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 27lbs. She turned 2 on July 30th. Davd's sister bought her a cake, then we bought her a Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House (it was $4 at the thrift store), a teddy bear, stuffed dog that she latched onto at Wal-Mart, a water bottle, and a pair of sunglasses. She really loves stuffed animals and if we let her pick a toy at the store that's what she goes for. Her favorite is dogs and teddy bears (I think because Peppa Pig has one). She has started talking a lot more recently. She knows all of her body parts and we taught her cheeks, chin, shoulders and knees. She's starting to express an interest in what she wears. We let her pick out her own clothes in the morning and she has 2 blue dresses that she loves to wear. She asks for them every day. She still loves to point at everything and tell us what it is. We're working on teaching her sounds right now she knows, dog, cat, monkey, pig and car. She's talking a lot and really starting to put sentences together.  She also loves to do flashcards with Spencer and us and she loves having us tell her what things  are. She's also starting to show an interest in scribbling after I let her play with my app. Now she asks us to draw and we either give her the tablet or give her paper and crayons and let her entertain herself. T

he one thing we're having problems with is her attitude and temper, but that's pretty normal at 2. When she gets mad at us she likes to go to her room and slam the door, it's gotten to the point that we lock her out of her room so she can't do it. A lot of the time though she'll just throw a fit right in front of us and get progressively louder. We used to do time-outs on the loveseat but since she just increases the volume we make her go to her room to throw a fit, and tell her she can come out when she's ready to act nice. Then once she's calmed down one of us gets her and we have her say I'm sorry, then she's usually ready to be good. Another thing she's started doing is stalling at bedtime. She'll say Mommy and when I ask what she just repeats it. Or she throws her stuffed animals out of bed then cries because she doesn't have them. We've learned to just ignore her stalling tactics we put her in bed, give her a kiss, say Good night, love you, then close the door. She was throwing a huge fit about it but lately she seems to have accepted it and just repeats it back then falls asleep quietly, so we're slowly but surely making progress.

Grant is also doing really well, he is now 6 months old. I don't remember his weight or height (bad Mommy I know).  He's known how to roll over for quite some time but he doesn't like to do it very often. Usually if we stick him somewhere he stays relatively close to that area, he doesn't roll to get everywhere like the other two did. He has learned to say Dada, and he also knows how to say Mama and Baba but rarely does. He's also learning how to hold his bottle occasionally for short periods of time. He's really hit a demanding phase lately though. He wants to be held all the time. The swing, playmat and jumperoo only keep him occupied for about 5 minutes. Sometimes we get lucky and he goes for longer stretches but not lately, he's been extra clingy. He's also been showing the signs of teething for quite awhile but he still has no teeth. Everyone swears he's got to be getting teeth in because he's always chewing on his hands and he drools like crazy, but nope no teeth.
We started him on solid foods which he loves and has a huge appetite for.
He's starting to laugh but he does so reluctantly. When we tickle him he tries so hard to fight it, and then when we do find something that makes him giggle, we'll go to repeat it later and he won't laugh only smile. His favorite family member is still Vivian, he just beams whenever she gives him attention. She gives him hugs and kisses. Spencer also likes to come over and talk to him, and they like to play with each other by rolling a ball back and forth on his swing or high chair tray.

So that's all that's been new with us and the kids. I'll update again after Spencer's little birthday celebration.

previous entry: Spencer's Birthday and More Job Stuff

next entry: 10/01/2012

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