A Very Good Girl

Anna had her 18-month appointment today. She weighed in at 26 lbs. 12 oz and is 33 inches tall. I just checked her brothers' stats and this makes her 2 lbs heavier than Matthew at this age, one pound heavier than Ben, 1/2 inch taller than Matthew and the same height as Ben. She's at about the 85th percentile for height and weight. Her head circumference jumped up to the 74th percentile (from the 50th).

She was extremely good and didn't even cry when she got a shot. I was impressed. Ben will even tear up a little and of course Matthew needs three sumo wrestlers to hold him down, so this was quite a shock. I refused the flu vaccine b/c the one and only time our family decided to get it we were all sicker than usual that winter. I noticed that the kids had a much healtier winter last year just being on the Shaklee multi-vitamin.

Our main concern was her skin condition. She still has patches of dry/irritated skin all over and her scalp is always itchy, in spite of our best efforts. So, we're going to use pure coconut oil on her scalp, eucurin cream and a prescription hydrocortisone cream on the skin, and give her zyrtec when she's around animals. Apparently, she has eczema related to allergies. We'll see if all of this works for now. She may need allergy testing when she's older unless these methods work. I just hope it all keeps her from scratching her scalp until it bleeds!

Next appointment will be optical visits for both of the boys at the end of the month.

In short.....

I've been meaing to post something new, but I've been sick this week, so I'll make it short :)

Matthew: Soccer practice very bad. Too distracted. Trying praying about his focus. Game went well and he focused. School good, cute as ever.

Ben: Working on behavior issues. Misses Daddy alot. When confronted about lying this week, he said, "You don't believe me, but I believe me because I'm telling the truth!"

Anna: Stringing together words and picking up new words constantly. Loves running around with her brothers, can sing most of "Jesus Loves Me," and plays "Ring Around the Rosie" by herself. Loves new shoes and dresses. We think she's allergic to animals, will find out more at pediatric appointment next week.

Rob: Starts his on-line classes tomorrow. Is buidling things like crazy around here.

Me and Rob: Started in a parenting class on Wednesday nights and loving it so far. Or hating it b/c it is a little too convicting :)

Me: Loving life right now! God is so good!

Our Week in Review

We started off the week pretty good. Rob was home! Our Labor Day "celebration" consisted of buying new shoes and clothes for mommy and the baby, playing outside, and grilling. It was a nice, relaxing day for us after having a week of craziness.

On Tuesday, Matthew had his second soccer practice. Rob said he went a little crazy so we're working on the focus issue. Anna and I went to the library while the boys were gone. It was nice to have only one child, especially since the check-out line was insane! Let me just say how nice self-checkout was at the libraries in San Jose!

Wednesday the boys had their first night of Tiny Trackers. Both were extremely excited, especially Ben, who got his book this year. Last year he went for the final two months and I didn't see the necessity of a book. Both already had their t-shirts from last year (thank you, Mommy, for buying big sizes!) We picked up the books on Sunday night and I'm so glad we did. The line to buy them on Wednesday was enormous. After putting Anna in the nursery, we were free to go to church. By ourselves. In the auditorium! We're taking a parenting class starting next week and it's so nice to have that freedom on Wed. nights.

Thursday we grocery shopped. We had two free shelves in the fridge, so it was time to refill. The kids were very well-behaved. We ran into some friends from church who invited us over for a cook-out the following night.

Friday the kids went to the Teddy Bear Picnic storytime at the library. Both boys got a teddy bear (I didn't register Anna) and had a ball. They have a room set up for babies so Anna and I played in there off and on. The boys listened to stories, made a craft, ate a snack, and danced. Well, Ben danced (i.e. bounced around to music) but Matthew hid behind a chair. I let Anna jump around with the kids during the music time and she had a ball too. We had a good time that evening with our friends and the kids had a blast running around and roasting marshmallows.

This morning, Matthew had his very first game. I shot out to a "fill-a-bag" yard sale and got Anna set for winter, along with finding snow boots for Matthew. Matthew's game went well and I think that they won. Matthew did well and aggressively played but when he was out of the game, he picked grass and layed around. He was very confused at first but I think he got the hang of what a game looks like. They had a soccer fest going on so afterwards the kids went through an inflatible caterpillar and Matthew picked up ducks.

Busy week! We started kindergarten with Matthew last week and he's doing great. He's doing just fine with Miquon Math and Explode the Code. His comment on the ETC book was: I love this book! It's so easy! Ben is doing some pages in the preschool Brain Quest book. He can now recognize two letters of the alphabet. :)

Rob likes his one seminary class right now. The other two online courses start up in two weeks. Hmmm....and Rob just took all three kids to Wal-Mart...time to relax and make some cards!

Making a Grand Entrance, Penni-style

Oh my. I'm beginning to think the reason for my existence is to make other people laugh. Today's incident in Sunday School may have clinched that belief.

Rob and I were asked to take Ben and Anna into the college class as a way to help recruit the new college students for nursery work. They do this every year and the kids hold (or chew on) signs and look cute. We dropped them off in the nursery when we were done and headed to our Sunday school class. When we arrived, it appeared that the only empty seats were in the front. Since our teacher was giving announcements, we quietly and discreetly walked around the room to the supposedly empty seats. We asked if they were indeed empty, and were told they were not. So, we quietly and discreetly left the room, quietly and discreetly talking about whether we wanted to volunteer in the nursery or go to another class.

Then a friend of ours dashed out of the room with two chairs, followed by the teacher who both loudly proclaimed that they could make room. Friend Adam brought the chairs outside and Teacher Ron said we could acutally sit IN the room (yuk, yuk.) We told Adam, quietly and discreetly, to just leave the chairs in the back. Both he and Ron said they'd find room and a few people shifted over for us. By that point in time, everyone was watching what was happening and I had a choice: Continue pretending we were quiet and discreet or embrace the moment. Being the loud, dramatic person that I am, I opted for the latter and said, "Well, I just like to make a spectacle of myself as I enter class!" Laughter ensued, Teacher Ron jokingly introduced me, I waved and sat down. Rob, quiet through all of this ruckus, sat down and probably went to his happy place.

I'm thankful I can continue to provide the world with one more reason to laugh :)

SOCCER!!!

(The title is for my fellow Backyardigans fans, an homage to the Soccer Monster episode.)

Yes, Matthew started soccer today! He had his first practice ever, but not without some cajoling on my part. When I first signed him up, he was estatic. Then after his coach called this week with the practice times, he started throwing a fit about going. I finally figured out that he didn't want to go because he didn't know how to play. After convincing him that none of the other kindergarteners on his team knew how to play either, he went. He also got to pick out his shin guards (required) and take his own ball. (Thank you, Uncle Chris, for picking out the coolest ball at practice today!)

We arrived at about the same time as two other teammates and they all immediately started kicking around their balls. His coach is a very nice guy who's son is also on the team. The boy had a bit of that "my dad's the coach" ego going on, but his dad gently and firmly put him in his place. Coach Todd is a great guy and the assistant coach is fun as well. We had a parent meeting to start where he explained that it's pretty laid back and fun for the kids. We got a packet of info and a coupon for a free soccer ball. Not bad!

Matthew looked pretty good out there and we'll need to work on passing (he informed us he didn't pass to his partner b/c it was HIS ball) but he's got great control and paid attention well. We repeatedly enforced to him that his coach was in charge, so I only got one "Hi, Mom!" and he only got drinks when his coach said it was okay. His first real game will be next Saturday.

Ben stayed with me to watch practice and I brought him a little ball to play with. Another dad took him over to play on the side lines and Ben was his buddy for the rest of practice. Rob and Anna went to start on the grocery shopping and then came to watch when the kids were scrimmaging. Poor Anna....she saw that the ball they were playing with was "hers" and she kept trying to join the game. Rob finally wrangled her into her carseat where she stayed with him until practice ended. Next time we'll bring the stroller :)

Matthew really liked it and said he won't complain again. We're looking forward to a fun season!

The Good Behavior Streak Continues

Today, on a whim, I took the kids to the library story hour. Or half hour. I had signed Matthew up for a storytime when he was two, but he hated it and since then we've tried the drop-in times off and on, but they either don't like them or would freak out when I left the room to care for Anna. It's been awhile since I've tried it, so we gave it another go.

Turns out, they loved it! They sat real still on their part of the reading carpet, listened to the stories, and fully participated in the finger plays. There were only a total of seven children and two toddlers, so it was a lot less intimidating for them. The librarian in charge is very friendly and told us at the beginning that this story time is less formal than the Tuesday one. Perfect! She didn't mind at all having little ones running around and making noise. She pulled out some puzzles for Anna and the other toddler and there were balls for them to play with as well. Anna stopped off and on to listen to the stories and the songs, then went back to playing.

All in all, it was a very pleasant experience. We signed up for the Teddy Bear Picnic next week and they are excited about going.

Next new experience for Matthew: Soccer practice tomorrow at 9am.

The Boys Meet Miss Emily

Today the boys had their very first dental appointment. I figured I'd get Matthew in about the time he started kindergarten but when I asked how old they needed to be before a first appointment, I was told, "Whenever they will willingly open their mouth, bring them in!" Ben's such a good little patient that I figured he'd be okay, so off we went today. I found someone to stay here while Anna napped, so that was one less little person to keep track of. We also had to drop Rob off for his very firstest day of seminary...I just like planning EVERYTHING all at once!

Anyway, we arrived and the boys tried playing with the giant frogs, the wall fountain, and the bathrooms (you know, anything but the toys in the play area) while I checked them in. Thankfully, I had all their paperwork filled out having received it when I set up the appointment. I can't imagine what I would have done if I had to fill out TWO sets of dental papers along with keep track of them!

Then we all met Miss Emily. The boys took right to her and followed her back to her exam room. She was very, very good with them. They got a little tour of the room and saw all of her tools. She showed them how the spit vaccuum worked and even let them try it out on a little glass of water. Ben volunteered to go first, although both boys sat on the chair. Matthew watched cartoons and Ben's exam off and on, even going so far as to get his head nearly in the way of Miss Emily working! Ben was an excellent patient and Miss Emily said he may have been her best patient ever (seriously, not just trying to be nice about it!) He has good teeth, evenly spaced, and no problems.

Matthew then jumped up for his turn. He was excited to work the spit vaccuum (Ben got to work it as well) and opened his mouth wide. He's a pretty lousy patient at the doctor's office, but the dentist was no problem. She did say he has a tiny bit of plaque, but not to worry about it. He also had a deep bite that they will keep an eye on and his adult molars are starting to show up. But the biggest news was this little piece of skin at the top middle of his mouth and bottom middle. Miss Emily told me that it may have to be cut back when he gets older and.....here's the big news....that extra skin causes latching problems as an infant. Usually, a hospital will cut it back on an infant so they can nurse better. WHAT?????? After thinking through endless reasons why my children couldn't nurse, finally settling on "it must be me" we have the answer. Rob checked Anna and hers is just as pronounced as Matthew's. Huh. Obviously there's no going back and I raised three healthy, happy infants on the bottle but it's nice to finally know what happened. And if God gives us another one, I know what to look for at birth!

And then they met the dentist, who confirmed all of the hygenists finds. The boys picked out toothbrushes and toys, hugged Miss Emily (who declared them a hoot) then we trooped to the front to pay. Matthew summed up the visit quite nicely, "The dentist is fun!" That's good, because we go back on March 11th. :)

How to Get a Popsicle

Matthew was playing Super Mario Galaxy this afternoon and I was reading a magazine on the other couch. He asked, "Mommy, can I have a popsicle?" I had just sat down, so like any good mom, I tried the first tactic I could think of that would allow me to sit longer. I replied, "Not unless your name is not Matthew." Without missing a beat, Matthew said, "My name is Benjamin!"

And yes, he did get a popsicle.