where has the summer gone?

I don't know where the time has gone.  We spent a lot of time and effort and sprouted many gray hairs over the process called "purchasing a short sale home."  In the end, we are thrilled that we stuck it out and we LOVE our new home and neighborhood.  It was certainly worth the wait.  The weekend that we chose to move, it was 105 degrees outside, but we survived!  

Super Dude + Lucy on the porch of our new house

Super Dude's new room

SD also was moved up to the next class at preschool, along with several of his best buds from his previous class.  It was bitter sweet because we love his previous teachers, but the new ones are wonderful, too.  This class is more structured and they work on potty training more actively.  Woohoo!

And, here's a video of him jamming to our amazingly talented friend, Melanie, on iTunes.  [Her website is http://www.melanieedwardslabs.com/home.html and her songs can be purchased on iTunes if you like what you hear]

first school picture

Sweet little Super Dude's first ever school picture!  

adventures in potty training

"It's been said that adults spend the first two years of their children's lives trying to make them walk and talk, and the next sixteen years trying to get them to sit down and shut up.  It's the same way with potty training: Most adults spend the first few years of a child's life cheerfully discussing pee and poopies, and how important it is to learn to put your pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty like big people do. But once children have mastered the art of toilet training, they are immediately forbidden to ever talk about poop, pee, toilets and other bathroom-related subjects again. Such things are now considered rude and vulgar, and are no longer rewarded with praise and cookies and juice boxes. One day you're a superstar because you pooped in the toilet like a big boy, and the next day you're sitting in the principal's office because you said the word "poopy" in American History class (which, if you ask me, is the perfect place to say that word)."  
— Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty People)

Super Dude has been exposed to the potty for a while and he loves it.  He's not afraid of it (whew!) and thinks that flushing and washing his hands are the best things ever!  The few times he has been successful, we danced and we sang...and he just laughed.  Best. Entertainment. Ever!  His preschool teachers told us that he's exhibiting the signs of "readiness" (whatever that means) and they've been working with him consistently on potty training.  The problem is....mommy & daddy. We're not consistent because we are clueless.  And if he's only getting consistency 3 days a week when he's at school, he's going to be in diapers until he's in high school.  From what I remember of my high school days, it's not cool (that's probably not even a cool word anymore) to wear diapers. 

If you search for "potty training" books on Amazon, you get 869 books; search for "potty training" in baby products, you get 1,214 items. What's a clueless parent to do? Why, turn to the blog of course!

Now's your chance to share your tips and advice.  SPILL IT!  Give us the secrets, oh wise ones. We're not afraid of a little self-humiliation or bribery, so don't hold back.   And if you peepee on the potty, you can have an m&m...oh sorry... got side-tracked for a second.

doctors and teachers and cookies...oh my!

On Friday, we had an appointment with Dr. H, Super Dude's surgeon at Duke.  In case we haven't mentioned it lately, we LOVE Dr. H.  He was instrumental in saving Dude's life - he performed Dude's primary diaphragm repair and the intestinal containment surgeries.  When we were on the brink of consenting to Dude getting a G-tube because of his feeding problems, Dr. H encouraged us to wait and give the Dude a little more time; he was right and saved the Dude from an unnecessary surgery.  It had been a year since we last saw Dr. H, so the visit was bittersweet.  

He thinks that Super Dude looks great and couldn't believe how tall he'd grown.  We've known the next surgery was necessary, so this appointment was short and sweet.  He told us what he'd do, we signed the consent forms and then he sent us to pre-op to get all of that done.  Dr. H was very amenable to having the ENT insert ear tubes during the surgery and said he'd contact the ENT to coordinate their schedules.  Now, we're just waiting on the phone call to tell us when to show up!  This surgery will last 2-3 hours and will involve creating an incision at the end of the last incision/scar, which will wrap around toward Super Dude's back and be about 3 inches long.  He'll be admitted and we're asking that people not visit as only 2 people are permitted in the room and that only leaves room for mommy & daddy!

After the surgical appointment, we had our first parent-teacher conference at Dude's preschool.  His teachers said they adore him and that he's a wonderful child.  He has a best bud in his class, and apparently the two can just look at each other and burst out in laughter.  The teachers gave us some tips on potty-training, which we hope to work on soon at home.  The only issue they have with Super Dude is that he sometimes steals food from his classmates at lunch.  I find this hysterical since he was tube-fed the first year of life, and we tried so hard, for so long, to just get him to eat ANYTHING!  

Tonight we made cookies and I let Super Dude help put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet.  I turned around to check the oven for a quick second and when I turned back around, the Dude was in the same exact spot, but there was a cookie on the sheet with a bite taken out of it!  Sneaky little monkey!

go cool??

The dude LOVES school.  Every morning when he wakes up, he asks "go cool?" and if you tell him that today is not a school day, he sternly says "GO COOL!!!"  We are very fortunate to have found a fabulous school with low student to teacher ratios.  He is in a toddler class, three days a week, with only children 2 - 2 1/2 years old.  They send home a daily activity report detailing activities such as language (they teach 1-2 new signs each day), tactile experiences, music, reading, science, creative art, motor skills, life skills and manners (a CDH parent's dream--ha!).  They are also working on potty training him and his teachers say that he'll be fully potty trained very soon!  Writing that tuition check each month is painful, but it's worth it to see the payoff.

The dude's verbal skills and sign language are improving drastically.  He's become very independent, too.  They expect him to put on/take off his coat and hang it up in his cubby; help get dressed after going potty; clean up after lunch (putting his bowls and utensils away and throwing away his trash); wipe his area at the table after eating; wash and dry his own hands; remove his sheet and blanket from his mat after nap-time and put them away in his cubby; put away the toys he plays with, etc.  It's certainly made life at home much easier!

Today, Mrs. L told me that she was shocked when they were doing number puzzles and the dude started counting on his fingers!  She said she ran to the next classroom to get another teacher just so she could witness it.  Mrs. L told me that a lot of the kids can count out loud a few numbers, but they don't really know what it means and can't count on their fingers.  The dude can count to 5 consistently (with 6 and 10 thrown in there sometimes).  She said she randomly said a number and he'd show it to her on his fingers!

It's such a relief to see him prosper so well in school.  We had to have him isolated for the first 2 years and we were concerned about his social skills and learning.  There's only so much that the mommy and daddy can do at home before he gets bored with us.  I also think that the interaction with other kids is helping him learn to talk, learn that the world doesn't revolve around just him, and have certainly helped to improve his eating.

Of course, I'd love "cool" too if I got to do stuff like this:

on the move

"Mommy, I think these are a little too big for me..."

We've been super busy lately and haven't had a chance to post.  This may be a long post, but I 'm going to try to catch you up on everything that's been going on.  We have moved several hours away from our old home (and the grandparents who are not very happy about this) and I started a new job.  My past co-workers threw me a wonderful surprise send-off party, complete with a delicious cake and tons of yummy food.  I'm really going to miss them, but hopefully I'll see them when we're in town visiting the grandparents.

We got really lucky and a spot opened up in the preschool we were stalking wanted to get Super Dude into, so I hopped right into the car and drove there to enroll him.  I can't believe I actually had to sign a tuition check.  I didn't think I'd be writing one of those for another 16 years!  I LOVE his school.  They concentrate on language skills, teach sign language and Spanish and it was spotless.  The day I took him to enroll, he got to hang out in his class with his new teachers while I did all the mommy/daddy stuff.  He went right in, started playing and didn't even notice that I left.  When I returned to pick him up, he was sitting in the teacher's lap and they were all sitting in a circle singing a song.  He had to hug every one before we left (we'll have to work on that with cold/flu season coming up!).  He starts in 2 weeks and we're really looking forward to finally being able to socialize him after 2 years of isolation from October--April.  The security is crazy--we have to scan our hand into a palm-scanner before we can enter to pick him up!

Just prior to moving, we went out on one last boat trip with our friends, the Cieszkos.  The little boys, big boys and ladies had a great time!

My parents (gigi and granddad) got the dude a wagon for his birthday.  Even though his birthday is a month away, they gave it to him early so we could enjoy this beautiful weather.  Nana (hubby's mom) got the dude a tricycle, but he needs to grow another 1/4 inch before he can fully use it, which won't be long at the rate he's going!  [he'll be 2 in October, but is in 3T shirts for the length; 2Ts are belly shirts!]

I can't remember if I posted about Super Dude's speech diagnosis of Speech Apraxia, but we were pretty devastated.  The SLP suggested that we bring him to therapy once a week, but with school starting soon, we've put therapy on hold.  We're interested in seeing the progress he makes in school first, before we add something that may be unnecessary.  We've implemented the SLP's home therapy suggestions and the dude's speech is slowly improving.  His eating has turned a corner and he's been doing really well (but, don't tell him!).

I included this last picture because it just cracks me up!  Super Dude in his new cowboy boot slippers.