Q is for Quiet. That is what it has been for the last few weeks. Apollo started Kindergarten over a month ago and for the most part, we have had a very quiet year. Apollo has had his share of meltdowns - we still have at least one or two major meltdowns a week and usually over the weirdest things, but we used to battle eyes-go-blank, body-goes-rigid, nothing-else-matters meltdowns daily. I will take one or two a week. They are less severe too, which is a relief. We have found that the most effective method of combating his meltdowns is to remove him from the situation and wrap him in a tight hug to calm him down. The other biggest a-ha moment we had was to institute 'Quiet Time' which is a mandatory 45 minutes period immediately following school. The boys change out of their uniforms and go lay down in their beds until 4 o'clock. It has helped tremendously to prevent major meltdowns, especially between the older two. They are tired and their patience is thin when they get home from school - the mandatory rest period gives them a chance to reset their systems and "let the day melt away."
Q is for Quick. This is the rate at which Apollo has assimilated into school. I fully expected the transition to school to be a long, arduous process full of lessons learned and requiring a LOT of patience. It has actually been quite the opposite. In those first two weeks, Apollo brought home 3 yellow faces - and has brought home straight green faces ever since. He loves his teacher and seems to be able to get around school without getting lost. He even has friends. My little boy... the one who only ever played with two children that weren't related to him... has friends. And yes, that is plural! He tells me daily about his friends and what they did today at school. I have noticed a trend in that most of his friends are girls. Perhaps it his distrusting nature of males in general. (He's okay with family members, but he has always gravitated towards women.) Maybe it is the little girls' naturally empathetic nature that he is drawn to. Or maybe he is playing up his friendships more than what is truly there. Regardless, he has adjusted to school at a rate I never thought possible. He likes school, he's doing well - his progress report was straight 100s. He has even ridden the bus by himself on a day when Orion had a doctor's appointment in the morning! Now if we could just get his speed of walking to be quick.... because he moves like a turtle...
Q is for Quirky. This has become our constant. Apollo is quirky. There is no other word for it and no other way to describe Apollo, but quirky. There are things that send him into a complete tizzy that wouldn't make another child blink and then 20 minutes later, he just shrugs at something that would make another child wail. I try to avoid the word normal because really... what IS normal? Certainly not my child - but then, none of my children are "normal." I don't want normal. I wouldn't know what to do with normal. I wouldn't understand normal. I am used to quirky. And I wouldn't have Apollo be any other way - even if he has a meltdown because his covers aren't the right way, or his dinner didn't taste like he expected, or you looked at him wrong. He has his quirks, but they make him who he is - a sweet, wonderful little boy with some strange behaviors that sets him apart from the rest of the world. He is completely attached to me, but he is facing down the big, bad real world out there like a champ!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
K is for Kindergarten
K is for Kindergarten. Sweet little Apollo has started Kindergarten! He was super excited to go to school with his big brother and so far, so good. I took both boys to school on the first day to help make sure they could find everything and that they knew where to go. Orion went to Pre-K, so he was a little more prepared when he started Kindergarten, but Apollo actually handled it like an old pro. The boys ate breakfast, I walked Apollo down to class, he sat down at his desk and basically told me to go after less than 5 minutes. I had expected him to want me to hang around for a little bit so that he could transition to the new surroundings. But he seamlessly transitioned over without a single tear, no meltdown and a simple kiss goodbye and it was done. I left before 8:20 and he made it to his classroom at 8:10. I kept expecting the school to call to tell me that he was in meltdown mode and couldn't be calmed down, but nothing. I worried for WEEKS for nothing. I don't know how well he is getting along with his classmates, but he really likes his teachers and is bringing home mostly green faces, with a few yellows. He even memorized his lunch number by day two and can tell me the names of the his classmates that sit beside him (Amorette) and across from him (Chase) which is an amazing improvement already over his normal social skills. Maybe this won't be such a rough adjustment for him after all.
K is for Kickoff. Along with the start of school, I have begun a new rewards system to try to curtail some of the chaos in the house. I am over doing every single chore that needs to be done, and the boys are big enough to help. I have implemented a ticketing system where the boys earn tickets for good behavior and doing tasks around the house. Then at the end of the month, they can either turn their tickets in for cash or for an outing somewhere - like Pete's Party Castle, Skating, Chuck E Cheese, Laser Tag, etc. There are some that are easy - doing their homework earns them 1, getting a good behavior grade at school earns them 2, checking the mail earns 1, etc. Some are more difficult and pay at a much higher rate - 5 tickets for a load of laundry or cleaning the toilet, 3 for bringing up the trash cans, 4 for helping to cut the grass, etc. It isn't a perfect system, but the boys do ask what they can do around the house to earn tickets. Yes, they are being rewarded for doing something that has to be done, but at their age... it's just nice to have them asking to help out. And they DO go out of their way to ask to do chores, so I am going to call this one a win.
K is for Ketchup. Seriously. Apollo wants ketchup for everything - hot dog, hamburger, french fries, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese... I guess it could be far worse, but it's just a little weird. If it comes down to it, he might even start asking for ketchup on his spaghetti instead of pasta sauce. We do not serve 'Sketti' in this household and I just can't bring myself to do it. The real downside is how much he uses. This child can use an insane amount of ketchup on anything.
K is for Karma. So the other night, I was laughing to my mom that I have made it 6.5 years with 3 boys and no serious injuries requiring an emergency room visit. I should have known better because the day after saying this, my oldest son kicked an old picture frame and lacerated his shin. His wasn't too serious, but it shattered our streak and off we went to the ER where, after 4 hours and 5 stitches later, we were repaired and on our way home. While there, I mentioned to the nurse how glad I was that it wasn't Apollo in the ER because he goes into full meltdown mode over the littlest scrape. Flash forward 3 days to Friday night. I am helping Orion do homework he forgot to do, Phoenix was taking a nap, and Apollo was in the office with my mom, playing on the tablet. Orion and I are getting down to the final questions and I hear my mom call me from the office. As I turned the corner to go back there, I see her half-carrying Apollo out of the office, saying, "Apollo did it too... I don't know how, but he cut himself..." I looked down at Apollo and saw lots of blood and asked, "Is it bad?" And my mom just nods, "Very..." My stomach dropped to the floor and I ran straight for the phone to call 911. The whole phone call is a bit of a blur now and I have no idea how I held it together. My mom is the real hero though as she threw Apollo on the couch and held the huge cut on his inner thigh together with a towel until the paramedics arrived. Thankfully, the cut occurred in a place on his thigh with no major arteries and it looked much worse than it was. Well, that's not necessarily true because it was a VERY bad cut - 7 inches long and about an inch deep. Apollo was taken by ambulance to the ER and I met them at the hospital. My child was a freaking rock-star. He was calm, quiet and content the ENTIRE time - almost. He screamed bloody murder loud enough for the whole hospital to hear when they were injecting the numbing drugs to stitch him up. It took 19 stitches to repair his leg, but nothing internal which is flabbergasting to me - you could see his bone! They had to put two different drugs into his leg to get it somewhat numb, but he felt most of the stitches. Hopefully, he will never do anything like that again! We are not totally sure, but seeing as he cut himself on the SAME picture frame Orion did, we suspect that to a degree he was trying to be like his big brother and get some extra attention. Needless to say, that picture frame is gone. He is healing up well and is out of PE for 10 days, but otherwise you'd never be able to tell he's seriously injured. He is back in rock-star mode. He hasn't needed Ibuprofen since Saturday morning and he is trying to get up and convince us to let him play Mario Kart Wii - with 19 stitches. *sigh* Boys... I am HAWKING Phoenix to make sure he doesn't get any bright ideas - at least everything in the house is bolted to something else... I do have pictures of the wound pre-fix but it is graphic, so I will only post the fixed version...
K is for Kickoff. Along with the start of school, I have begun a new rewards system to try to curtail some of the chaos in the house. I am over doing every single chore that needs to be done, and the boys are big enough to help. I have implemented a ticketing system where the boys earn tickets for good behavior and doing tasks around the house. Then at the end of the month, they can either turn their tickets in for cash or for an outing somewhere - like Pete's Party Castle, Skating, Chuck E Cheese, Laser Tag, etc. There are some that are easy - doing their homework earns them 1, getting a good behavior grade at school earns them 2, checking the mail earns 1, etc. Some are more difficult and pay at a much higher rate - 5 tickets for a load of laundry or cleaning the toilet, 3 for bringing up the trash cans, 4 for helping to cut the grass, etc. It isn't a perfect system, but the boys do ask what they can do around the house to earn tickets. Yes, they are being rewarded for doing something that has to be done, but at their age... it's just nice to have them asking to help out. And they DO go out of their way to ask to do chores, so I am going to call this one a win.
K is for Ketchup. Seriously. Apollo wants ketchup for everything - hot dog, hamburger, french fries, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese... I guess it could be far worse, but it's just a little weird. If it comes down to it, he might even start asking for ketchup on his spaghetti instead of pasta sauce. We do not serve 'Sketti' in this household and I just can't bring myself to do it. The real downside is how much he uses. This child can use an insane amount of ketchup on anything.
K is for Karma. So the other night, I was laughing to my mom that I have made it 6.5 years with 3 boys and no serious injuries requiring an emergency room visit. I should have known better because the day after saying this, my oldest son kicked an old picture frame and lacerated his shin. His wasn't too serious, but it shattered our streak and off we went to the ER where, after 4 hours and 5 stitches later, we were repaired and on our way home. While there, I mentioned to the nurse how glad I was that it wasn't Apollo in the ER because he goes into full meltdown mode over the littlest scrape. Flash forward 3 days to Friday night. I am helping Orion do homework he forgot to do, Phoenix was taking a nap, and Apollo was in the office with my mom, playing on the tablet. Orion and I are getting down to the final questions and I hear my mom call me from the office. As I turned the corner to go back there, I see her half-carrying Apollo out of the office, saying, "Apollo did it too... I don't know how, but he cut himself..." I looked down at Apollo and saw lots of blood and asked, "Is it bad?" And my mom just nods, "Very..." My stomach dropped to the floor and I ran straight for the phone to call 911. The whole phone call is a bit of a blur now and I have no idea how I held it together. My mom is the real hero though as she threw Apollo on the couch and held the huge cut on his inner thigh together with a towel until the paramedics arrived. Thankfully, the cut occurred in a place on his thigh with no major arteries and it looked much worse than it was. Well, that's not necessarily true because it was a VERY bad cut - 7 inches long and about an inch deep. Apollo was taken by ambulance to the ER and I met them at the hospital. My child was a freaking rock-star. He was calm, quiet and content the ENTIRE time - almost. He screamed bloody murder loud enough for the whole hospital to hear when they were injecting the numbing drugs to stitch him up. It took 19 stitches to repair his leg, but nothing internal which is flabbergasting to me - you could see his bone! They had to put two different drugs into his leg to get it somewhat numb, but he felt most of the stitches. Hopefully, he will never do anything like that again! We are not totally sure, but seeing as he cut himself on the SAME picture frame Orion did, we suspect that to a degree he was trying to be like his big brother and get some extra attention. Needless to say, that picture frame is gone. He is healing up well and is out of PE for 10 days, but otherwise you'd never be able to tell he's seriously injured. He is back in rock-star mode. He hasn't needed Ibuprofen since Saturday morning and he is trying to get up and convince us to let him play Mario Kart Wii - with 19 stitches. *sigh* Boys... I am HAWKING Phoenix to make sure he doesn't get any bright ideas - at least everything in the house is bolted to something else... I do have pictures of the wound pre-fix but it is graphic, so I will only post the fixed version...
Saturday, August 8, 2015
R is for Revelry
R is for Revelry. We had the opportunity to open up the water park on a nice day last week. It was clear outside, but not too terribly hot as it has been for weeks. We have 5 seasons here on the Alabama Gulf Coast - Spring (February-March), Summer (April-June), High Summer (July-August), Burnout (September-October), and Fall (November-January). This week, it has been in the low 100s PLUS humidity which makes it simply what we like to call "stupid hot" which means if you're out in it without a dang good reason, you're stupid. We had to make some minor revisions to the water slide as the original design had some flaws that were difficult to correct as it was assembled. Thankfully, a storm disassembled the bottom portion with problems for us and I was able to do some minor modifications and now we have a fully functional, issue-free slide! We had to shorten it by about 5 feet, but the kids still get plenty of slide and with the newer pool replacing the old one (same storm was kind enough to pop it for us), the retaining pool at the bottom holds more water. It also means one less pool to fill since we no longer use the family pool as an actual pool. Win-win for everyone since it takes way less time to set up (win for me) and they can do it more often (win for them). Even though school starts back this month, water activities can continue here well into October, so we have at least 2 more months of enjoyment with the modifications and then I have an idea to turn it into a skate park of sorts for the (very) brief "fall" season. I call it fall because it rarely gets below 40, although it has been known to dip into the negatives for short periods of time. But we just don't get snow. It doesn't even turn cool until November and if it DOES snow, the entire city shuts down for a week, so there is no sledding to speak of - their slide may prove useful as a sort of sledding hill with a wheeled sled.
R is for Really Cool. Which is what Apollo called the Blue Angels when we visited Pensacola to watch them practice their air show. It was a dreary, rainy day and we got soaked watching the practice, but with the help of some noise-cancelling headphones, Apollo was really able to enjoy the show. He was definitely startled when the first plane took off right in front of us and he jumped when the soloist did a low flyby that boomed loud enough to shake the bleachers, but overall, he handled it very well and we didn't have a single meltdown, even though it was extremely loud and I worried a bit about having to leave early with him. He was anxious and squirmy before the show started and got to be irritating after the show, but during he was mesmerized and kept telling me "This is SO cool! This is the best thing EVER!" Due to the rain, we only got to see the low show and the really low show, so I would like to take him back sometime to see the high show on a clear day because he is going to be completely blown away by the mega-loop the Blues do in the high show. Afterwards, we waited in line (the beginning of the defiance) to meet 4 of the Blue Angels pilots and while he hated waiting in line, he was eager to give them high fives and tell them his name is Apollo, A-P-O-L-L-O. He had several outbursts inside the Naval Aviation Museum while we visited and he was forced to sit out on quite a few activities (he almost didn't get to sit in a Blue Angel cockpit because of his behavior!), but overall, for Apollo, he was pretty good. He, my niece, Orion and Phoenix were so well-behaved inside McDonald's that a total stranger paid for them all to get an ice cream cone when they were done because he was SO impressed with how well-mannered they were. I guess I didn't completely notice because I was eating instead of trying to separate two of them, or putting one back in his chair, or picking food up off the floor, or giving out final warnings. I got to have a glimpse of the normalcy that I left behind the day I became a mother and it was refreshing - especially since they haven't yet mastered the art of the ice cream cone lick-down, so I had to do it for them.
R is for Rebel. Apollo had a super great day and managed to clean his room completely after only being told twice to do so. This is a MAJOR accomplishment (for any kid really) and he was greatly rewarded, but I secretly HATE his good days. I know that sounds incredibly brash and terrible and I don't really "hate" them - I hate what follows. Every time he has a really great day, I cringe waiting for the other foot to fall because he ALWAYS follows a really great day with 2-5 really bad ones. The last big issue was him pooping his pants for 5 days in a row in defiance. This time, his defiance has reared its ugly head in the form of him throwing himself on the floor every chance he gets, any and every where he goes and refusing to get up without being dragged. I took him to order a replacement pair of glasses since he has now broken TWO pair in less than 2 months and while the break on the newest pair (we've had them a week, folks!) was repairable, Medicaid will no longer cover any glasses for him until NEXT May. It is August, and the beginning of August at that. So we went to Wal-Mart to order him another pair of inexpensive glasses that carry a break guarantee so we can get them replaced at no charge when he breaks them. Notice the lack of the word "if"? I know he will break them. He is rough and careless which is a terrible combination. Back to the point of his rebellion... he also needed some uniform pieces for school and I had a few coupons, so we headed to the mall. I don't mind the mall by myself, or with a child in a stroller or with my oldest... but Apollo makes it SO incredibly difficult. He is too big to go in a stroller without the judgey looks and I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the looks. He is too little to be expected to walk easily beside me. No, he is the one I end up dragging and he whines that his hand hurts because he is dragging his feet (or more! He often flops to his knees and refuses to budge) and I am dragging him. Every store we went into, he flung himself on the ground and whined that he was tired (it was 10 AM!) and I nearly stepped on him more than once because he tried to shove his head in between my feet. By the time we got the needed items, I was furious and we still had to go to Wal-Mart to order his glasses! Needless to say, Apollo and momma BOTH got an early bedtime that day!
R is for Ready. As in for Kindergarten. As in my sweet little Apollo starts Kindergarten on August 10! Ahhhhhh! Where has the time gone?!? Just yesterday, he was a fat little red faced alien baby that took 51 hours to make his grand appearance. Now he is 5 and a sassy little thing who can light up a room, but sometimes he shines too bright for most people and he can be a lot to handle on an extended basis. He gets into his moods where he slips off into his own little world, ignoring everyone and everything and if he isn't interested in you or what you have to say, it's best to leave him alone. Otherwise, we end up in meltdown territory if you try to pull him back into reality. We took him to school to meet his new teacher and drop off his school supplies, figure out everything and get acquainted and the entire hour and a half we were there was utter misery for me. Apollo rolled around on the floor, chased another kid around the Kindergarten room (yay for making friends!), lost his backpack within 5 minutes (we did find it), burst into tears over something (I still don't know what, he just blubbered in my face), almost knocked a kid down, ran into 2 adults, ran screaming around the cafeteria and interrupted Orion's teacher while she was talking to a parent. It is going to be an interesting year...
R is for Rock. As in moon rock. We have been members of the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center for about a year and a half now and we have gotten to see and do many fun scientific things including seeing live penguins, seeing real dinosaur eggs and fossils, seeing inside the human body and learning about the upcoming Journey to Mars, whose launch vehicle happens to be called Orion. Of course, as a family, we are excited that the Exploreum is currently home to a space exhibit, so when they announced they were having a special day with NASA, we were SO there. Today's "NASA Lands at the Exploreum" was so much fun for the kids and even Apollo had a pretty good day. They got to try on a real spacesuit, touch that (real!) moon rock, see a life-size inflatable of the Orion capsule and we even got to meet the Space Launch System Manager from Marshall Space Center in Huntsville where the US Space and Rocket Center is located (who just so happen to accept our membership reciprocity! Can someone say vacay?!?). The NASA people were amazed to hear the boys' names - Orion, Apollo and Phoenix are all names of space programs. I let someone who works at the Exploreum know their names and the news spread like wildfire and before we knew it, we had requests from the museum director for a picture with the kids AND the SLS Manager wanted a picture - and NASA retweeted it! It was an awesome feeling to be treated like celebrities for an afternoon and I have a couple of potentially useful contacts once the boys are older and able to attend Space Camp! Orion even got a pin from one of the NASA people whose business card I gratefully accepted! Now we are ALL looking forward to our February trip to Huntsville!
R is for Really Cool. Which is what Apollo called the Blue Angels when we visited Pensacola to watch them practice their air show. It was a dreary, rainy day and we got soaked watching the practice, but with the help of some noise-cancelling headphones, Apollo was really able to enjoy the show. He was definitely startled when the first plane took off right in front of us and he jumped when the soloist did a low flyby that boomed loud enough to shake the bleachers, but overall, he handled it very well and we didn't have a single meltdown, even though it was extremely loud and I worried a bit about having to leave early with him. He was anxious and squirmy before the show started and got to be irritating after the show, but during he was mesmerized and kept telling me "This is SO cool! This is the best thing EVER!" Due to the rain, we only got to see the low show and the really low show, so I would like to take him back sometime to see the high show on a clear day because he is going to be completely blown away by the mega-loop the Blues do in the high show. Afterwards, we waited in line (the beginning of the defiance) to meet 4 of the Blue Angels pilots and while he hated waiting in line, he was eager to give them high fives and tell them his name is Apollo, A-P-O-L-L-O. He had several outbursts inside the Naval Aviation Museum while we visited and he was forced to sit out on quite a few activities (he almost didn't get to sit in a Blue Angel cockpit because of his behavior!), but overall, for Apollo, he was pretty good. He, my niece, Orion and Phoenix were so well-behaved inside McDonald's that a total stranger paid for them all to get an ice cream cone when they were done because he was SO impressed with how well-mannered they were. I guess I didn't completely notice because I was eating instead of trying to separate two of them, or putting one back in his chair, or picking food up off the floor, or giving out final warnings. I got to have a glimpse of the normalcy that I left behind the day I became a mother and it was refreshing - especially since they haven't yet mastered the art of the ice cream cone lick-down, so I had to do it for them.
R is for Rebel. Apollo had a super great day and managed to clean his room completely after only being told twice to do so. This is a MAJOR accomplishment (for any kid really) and he was greatly rewarded, but I secretly HATE his good days. I know that sounds incredibly brash and terrible and I don't really "hate" them - I hate what follows. Every time he has a really great day, I cringe waiting for the other foot to fall because he ALWAYS follows a really great day with 2-5 really bad ones. The last big issue was him pooping his pants for 5 days in a row in defiance. This time, his defiance has reared its ugly head in the form of him throwing himself on the floor every chance he gets, any and every where he goes and refusing to get up without being dragged. I took him to order a replacement pair of glasses since he has now broken TWO pair in less than 2 months and while the break on the newest pair (we've had them a week, folks!) was repairable, Medicaid will no longer cover any glasses for him until NEXT May. It is August, and the beginning of August at that. So we went to Wal-Mart to order him another pair of inexpensive glasses that carry a break guarantee so we can get them replaced at no charge when he breaks them. Notice the lack of the word "if"? I know he will break them. He is rough and careless which is a terrible combination. Back to the point of his rebellion... he also needed some uniform pieces for school and I had a few coupons, so we headed to the mall. I don't mind the mall by myself, or with a child in a stroller or with my oldest... but Apollo makes it SO incredibly difficult. He is too big to go in a stroller without the judgey looks and I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the looks. He is too little to be expected to walk easily beside me. No, he is the one I end up dragging and he whines that his hand hurts because he is dragging his feet (or more! He often flops to his knees and refuses to budge) and I am dragging him. Every store we went into, he flung himself on the ground and whined that he was tired (it was 10 AM!) and I nearly stepped on him more than once because he tried to shove his head in between my feet. By the time we got the needed items, I was furious and we still had to go to Wal-Mart to order his glasses! Needless to say, Apollo and momma BOTH got an early bedtime that day!
R is for Ready. As in for Kindergarten. As in my sweet little Apollo starts Kindergarten on August 10! Ahhhhhh! Where has the time gone?!? Just yesterday, he was a fat little red faced alien baby that took 51 hours to make his grand appearance. Now he is 5 and a sassy little thing who can light up a room, but sometimes he shines too bright for most people and he can be a lot to handle on an extended basis. He gets into his moods where he slips off into his own little world, ignoring everyone and everything and if he isn't interested in you or what you have to say, it's best to leave him alone. Otherwise, we end up in meltdown territory if you try to pull him back into reality. We took him to school to meet his new teacher and drop off his school supplies, figure out everything and get acquainted and the entire hour and a half we were there was utter misery for me. Apollo rolled around on the floor, chased another kid around the Kindergarten room (yay for making friends!), lost his backpack within 5 minutes (we did find it), burst into tears over something (I still don't know what, he just blubbered in my face), almost knocked a kid down, ran into 2 adults, ran screaming around the cafeteria and interrupted Orion's teacher while she was talking to a parent. It is going to be an interesting year...
R is for Rock. As in moon rock. We have been members of the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center for about a year and a half now and we have gotten to see and do many fun scientific things including seeing live penguins, seeing real dinosaur eggs and fossils, seeing inside the human body and learning about the upcoming Journey to Mars, whose launch vehicle happens to be called Orion. Of course, as a family, we are excited that the Exploreum is currently home to a space exhibit, so when they announced they were having a special day with NASA, we were SO there. Today's "NASA Lands at the Exploreum" was so much fun for the kids and even Apollo had a pretty good day. They got to try on a real spacesuit, touch that (real!) moon rock, see a life-size inflatable of the Orion capsule and we even got to meet the Space Launch System Manager from Marshall Space Center in Huntsville where the US Space and Rocket Center is located (who just so happen to accept our membership reciprocity! Can someone say vacay?!?). The NASA people were amazed to hear the boys' names - Orion, Apollo and Phoenix are all names of space programs. I let someone who works at the Exploreum know their names and the news spread like wildfire and before we knew it, we had requests from the museum director for a picture with the kids AND the SLS Manager wanted a picture - and NASA retweeted it! It was an awesome feeling to be treated like celebrities for an afternoon and I have a couple of potentially useful contacts once the boys are older and able to attend Space Camp! Orion even got a pin from one of the NASA people whose business card I gratefully accepted! Now we are ALL looking forward to our February trip to Huntsville!
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
M is for Moo
M is for Moo. Yes, I am talking about cows - as in, the Chick-Fil-A cows. Every year, Chick-Fil-A hosts 'Cow Appreciation Day' and it has become our little tradition to get dressed up like cows and go share lunch as a family. We have been doing it since 2011 and the boys look forward to it as much as I do because Chick-Fil-A is typically spendy and with 3 kids who can eat like adults, it can cost a small fortune to eat there. The boys were one of the highlights of the store while we were there, which was fun. They took pictures with Mr. Cow, "Moo"d at everyone who looked at them and would only answer to 'Eat', 'More', or 'Chicken' for the rest of the day. That would be because they had signs that said 'Eat', 'Mor' and 'Chik'n' when they were dressed up as little calves. Everyone had grilled nuggets, fruit and lemonade for lunch and then (at another location!) had chicken strips, fries and chocolate milk for dinner. My only complaint is that Cow Appreciation Day falls in July every year and it is blasted hot in July!
M is for Mackeral. And bass. And salmon. And trout. And all the other kinds of fish the boys learned about today at Bass Pro Shops' Family Summer Camp. We only managed to make it to two of the workshops due to Apollo's inability to sit still and constant demand to talk over the lay hosting the workshop. We made it to the Archery and Fishing "camps" though and the boys thoroughly enjoyed what they were able to complete. From there, we explored Bass Pro Shops and managed to waste another hour just looking at everything inside - there are two enormous fish tanks that mesmerized Apollo and we had some lovely fish photobombs too! Outside, they had cute little crafts the boys were able to color - a turkey track magnet and a turtle suncatcher. They didn't hold Apollo's attention long, but he did manage to get them somewhat colored. He was more interested with shooting the bow/arrow and casting a fishing pole. Overall, it was a success for what it was, but I could tell that Orion was disappointed we didn't stay for more. I did take Orion back later in the camp to complete the rest of the workshops without his brothers.
M is for Maintaining. Apollo now has a new doctor, as was expected. Upon observing him, she has decided NOT to up his dosage of Intuniv at this time, due to his age. Since he is under 6, she does not want to go above the 2 MG dosage, but instead had me change the TIME he gets his medicine. Instead of taking it at bedtime, as he was before, we are now giving it to him in the morning (and once school starts, he will take it here before he gets on the bus). So far, I am really not seeing a big difference in his overall behavior. The biggest accomplishment is that we have cut out Melatonin almost completely. He still gets it once in a while, but his doctor was concerned with him regularly getting such a high dose. She didn't recommend we reduce it, but we have managed to get him 80% off of it. If his behavior starts to tilt back towards the insomniac nights, we will begin it again. He has a med check on August 20 (along with a dentist's appointment too!) and at that time, his doctor said she does have another medication she can add onto the Intuniv to address his defiance if that does not improve.
M is for Mackeral. And bass. And salmon. And trout. And all the other kinds of fish the boys learned about today at Bass Pro Shops' Family Summer Camp. We only managed to make it to two of the workshops due to Apollo's inability to sit still and constant demand to talk over the lay hosting the workshop. We made it to the Archery and Fishing "camps" though and the boys thoroughly enjoyed what they were able to complete. From there, we explored Bass Pro Shops and managed to waste another hour just looking at everything inside - there are two enormous fish tanks that mesmerized Apollo and we had some lovely fish photobombs too! Outside, they had cute little crafts the boys were able to color - a turkey track magnet and a turtle suncatcher. They didn't hold Apollo's attention long, but he did manage to get them somewhat colored. He was more interested with shooting the bow/arrow and casting a fishing pole. Overall, it was a success for what it was, but I could tell that Orion was disappointed we didn't stay for more. I did take Orion back later in the camp to complete the rest of the workshops without his brothers.
M is for Maintaining. Apollo now has a new doctor, as was expected. Upon observing him, she has decided NOT to up his dosage of Intuniv at this time, due to his age. Since he is under 6, she does not want to go above the 2 MG dosage, but instead had me change the TIME he gets his medicine. Instead of taking it at bedtime, as he was before, we are now giving it to him in the morning (and once school starts, he will take it here before he gets on the bus). So far, I am really not seeing a big difference in his overall behavior. The biggest accomplishment is that we have cut out Melatonin almost completely. He still gets it once in a while, but his doctor was concerned with him regularly getting such a high dose. She didn't recommend we reduce it, but we have managed to get him 80% off of it. If his behavior starts to tilt back towards the insomniac nights, we will begin it again. He has a med check on August 20 (along with a dentist's appointment too!) and at that time, his doctor said she does have another medication she can add onto the Intuniv to address his defiance if that does not improve.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
W is for Waterslide
W is for Waterslide. Last week started out spectacularly - at least for Apollo. For three days straight, he woke up in a good mood, we didn't have any major incidents and he was the only one to clean his room when he was told to do so. I even bribed the kids a bit by letting them know I would be opening up the homemade waterpark Saturday afternoon and that if they wanted to participate, they needed to make sure they picked up their rooms. Really, cleaning their rooms entails picking up their toys, putting the dirty clothes in a pile for me to get and putting all their babies and bedclothes back on their bed. I don't ask much - after all, they're still little and aren't responsible enough to be perfect little cleaners. Besides, I don't keep my own bedroom spotless, so I don't expect them to either. I do, however, expect them to quit dumping all of their toys out onto the floor and expecting me to clean them up. I am finding that since forcing them to pick them up, there is a lot less dumping. Not saying it never happens, but it happens less. Every victory, no matter how small, is still a victory. Anyway, so Apollo got to do the waterslide all by himself for almost an hour on Saturday. He had an absolute blast.
W is for World War 3. It has happened. War has been declared and the opposing sides are Apollo and I - and the issue at hand? Pooping in his pants. Apollo has decided that when I tell him that he can't go to the bathroom again 10 minutes after he last went, it is time to poop in his pants. It started about two weeks ago and right now, we are on day 4 with no poop. However, in a week and a half, he managed to poop in his pants 7 times... yes, SEVEN times. I threw out three pair because they were older hand-me-downs from his brother, but several pair were nearly brand new - and kids' underwear isn't cheap! Finally, out of frustration, I made Apollo clean out the 7th pair... and he cried the whole time. However, we have now not had another incident. Hopefully, he learned that that type of defiance isn't going to work in this household. He absolutely hated cleaning out his underwear because he had to touch the poop. I did swish them out in the toilet, but he had to finish up in the tub in hot water. He hates water that is hot, so I am hoping that the fear of having to wash them out again will keep him from pooping in his pants again.
W is for World War 3. It has happened. War has been declared and the opposing sides are Apollo and I - and the issue at hand? Pooping in his pants. Apollo has decided that when I tell him that he can't go to the bathroom again 10 minutes after he last went, it is time to poop in his pants. It started about two weeks ago and right now, we are on day 4 with no poop. However, in a week and a half, he managed to poop in his pants 7 times... yes, SEVEN times. I threw out three pair because they were older hand-me-downs from his brother, but several pair were nearly brand new - and kids' underwear isn't cheap! Finally, out of frustration, I made Apollo clean out the 7th pair... and he cried the whole time. However, we have now not had another incident. Hopefully, he learned that that type of defiance isn't going to work in this household. He absolutely hated cleaning out his underwear because he had to touch the poop. I did swish them out in the toilet, but he had to finish up in the tub in hot water. He hates water that is hot, so I am hoping that the fear of having to wash them out again will keep him from pooping in his pants again.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
T is for Tae Kwon Do
T is for Tae Kwon Do. As we did last summer, we have enrolled the boys in Tae Kwon Do. This time, the classes are through the City of Mobile and are being held at Davidson High School. We have 3 classes under our belts so far and Apollo is paying attention most of the time. Both of his brothers are taking the class with him, so he does get distracted by Phoenix sometimes (who mostly just want to run around and have me chase him down the halls) but overall, he is doing well and mostly trying to emulate Orion. He is also seems to get along with the other kids okay. It's not perfectly normal child interaction, but he does at least look in their general direction when he is avoiding them, so there's some progress. He is also genuinely trying to learn some of the moves. So far, they have learned forward block, low block, high block, forward punch, front kick and crescent kick. Could he do them all if I shouted commands? Probably not. But he can usually follow along in class and complete most of the tasks without too much confusion or disobedience. It took him a while last year to get the hang of it too, so by the end of his training (it's a 6 week class), he will likely be doing well.
T is for Testing. On my concerns, his pediatrician referred Apollo to the USA Speech and Hearing Center to have his hearing testing. More often than not, Apollo turns the TV up to ridiculous levels and he seems to never hear anyone when he is being spoken to. As we are still testing him to find out what is causing his social/obedience issues, I wanted to rule out a physical problem with his hearing. (Phoenix was also referred for speech, so we were going anyway.) The technicians at the hearing center were very sweet and patient with him and he did so well! I was very proud of him. He sat still, he paid attention and he PASSED. So that means we are dealing with a listening issue, not a hearing issue. This is what I almost expected, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance, so because the resources were available to us, I had his hearing tested. It is a bit of a relief to know that at least it is behavioral and not something physical.
T is for Theory. Speaking of possible causes for Apollo's social issues, we have run into a bit of a road block. His psychiatrist does not think he is on the autism spectrum, which comes as a bit of a blow because that particular diagnosis explained the majority of his symptoms, so now we are back at square one. The medication he is on is definitely helping him. He's had far fewer outbursts and isn't as determined to act on his impulses, but I don't think the dosage is quite where it needs to be yet. We will find out for sure coming up at his medicine check on July 20th, where they will either raise his dose to the next level, or re-prescribe him at the current dose. In doing a little research on some of my own eccentricities, I have discovered a potential theory for what may be causing the majority of Apollo's issues and it's something I never considered until I sat down and researched it. I have come to the realization that I actually have Sensory Processing Disorder and likely have my entire life. I can hear things most people can't (like dog whistles, security cameras and muted TVs), I can see millions of colors, I can't eat a lot of foods because my sense of taste goes overboard with bitterness (broccoli, mustard and pickles are all among the offensive foods) and I tend to overeat the good stuff, I am weird about what touches me and how it touches me and my sense of smell is stronger than everyone in my family. I never thought of it as a disorder or an over-processing of sensory input until I posted on Facebook that I was curious if there was a connection between my sensory overdrive and my migraines. Someone who read that post suggested it may be SPD and upon further research, I believe she is right. As an adult, there is little than can be done for me as I am too ingrained in my coping mechanisms and furthermore - it is believed to be hereditary. So if I have SPD, it is highly likely that Apollo does as well and he is young enough for intervention to be effective, so his therapist is ordering further diagnostic testing for him to try to come to a definitive answer, hopefully before school starts.
T is for Terrified. The 4th of July holiday was over the weekend, so I decided to try to take the boys to something fun to celebrate. I knew I didn't want to get into something too big or overwhelming because the last thing I wanted was a meltdown or to have to leave early. We decided to go to MGM high school in Semmes and go to the Freedom Celebration. Apollo was bouncing away, happily shifting between the bounce house, petting zoo and obstacle course. Then we took a short hiatus for a picnic dinner at the car and headed back inside to get a spot in the grandstands for the concert and fireworks. I made sure to place us in the front with an easy exit just in case of sensory overload. Even though the concert was insanely loud (no louder than any normal concert), Apollo sat there and seemed to be enjoying the concert. All 3 boys played with their glow sticks and seemed genuinely pretty happy... until it happened. The first fireworks exploded over the stage as the grand finale of the concert and almost immediately, Apollo's eyes went blank, he squeezed them tight and slammed his hands to ears. I was prepared for this possibility, but nevertheless, it still somewhat took me by surprise. He was in such a desperate shut down that I couldn't even pull his hands off his ears long enough to tell him we were leaving and I had to physically drag him, kicking and screaming from the stands. 45 pounds of weight is enough to shift around on a regular basis, but when that 45 pounds is slapping limbs all over the place, it can be miserable. I managed to get him into the wagon and to the car, but his hands didn't come off of his ears until we were 10 miles from MGM and he wouldn't sleep until well after 2 AM due the popping of fireworks everywhere around us at home. He finally got some relief with earplugs. I think we are going to be in the market for noise-canceling headphones VERY soon...
T is for Train. We decided to take a day trip to see how the boys would potentially fare on a longer trip or even a possible overnight trip. To make the story short, they didn't fare well and were grumpy and tired by the end, so we may be waiting a little longer for any real trips more than an hour or so from home. However, for dinner today we decided to visit the Derailed Diner in Robertsdale, AL which is built to appear to be a derailed train crashed into a building. The inside was fun and kitschy - reminded me heavily of Route 66 type decor. We got to sit in the dining car of the derailed train and the boys enjoyed looking around, pretending to be a on train and coloring their menus. Apollo made a huge mess of his chocolate milk, but otherwise did pretty well eating. The food was good but nothing spectacular, so this will likely be a one-time visit.
T is for Triceratops. As the main attraction for our day trip, we decided to trek over to Elberta, Alabama, to visit Barber Marina and its hidden treasures. It is essentially a big roadside attraction with lots of places to pull over and get pictures. The first thing on our list was to stop off at Alabama's version of Stonehenge, lovingly referred to as Bamahenge. It is an exact replica of Stonehenge and aligned for the solstice as well. Further on down the road there are dinosaurs! Hidden among the trees are a T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and an Apatosaurus, even though the latter is kind of hard to find. While Orion and Phoenix had seen these dinosaurs before, Apollo had not. He was a bit in awe of the first one (the fierce T-Tex) but by the end of the excursion, he was hugging the Apatosaurus! Success! Also found in and around the Marina were knights, a Lady in the Lake and a huge spider! Much fun was had, but I think it is going to be our last trip for a while. It was hot and sticky, the boys kept arguing and everyone was whining by the time we got home. I do believe we are about to change up the seating arrangements in the car because they can't be next to each other for more than 5 minutes before they're bickering.
T is for Testing. On my concerns, his pediatrician referred Apollo to the USA Speech and Hearing Center to have his hearing testing. More often than not, Apollo turns the TV up to ridiculous levels and he seems to never hear anyone when he is being spoken to. As we are still testing him to find out what is causing his social/obedience issues, I wanted to rule out a physical problem with his hearing. (Phoenix was also referred for speech, so we were going anyway.) The technicians at the hearing center were very sweet and patient with him and he did so well! I was very proud of him. He sat still, he paid attention and he PASSED. So that means we are dealing with a listening issue, not a hearing issue. This is what I almost expected, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance, so because the resources were available to us, I had his hearing tested. It is a bit of a relief to know that at least it is behavioral and not something physical.
T is for Theory. Speaking of possible causes for Apollo's social issues, we have run into a bit of a road block. His psychiatrist does not think he is on the autism spectrum, which comes as a bit of a blow because that particular diagnosis explained the majority of his symptoms, so now we are back at square one. The medication he is on is definitely helping him. He's had far fewer outbursts and isn't as determined to act on his impulses, but I don't think the dosage is quite where it needs to be yet. We will find out for sure coming up at his medicine check on July 20th, where they will either raise his dose to the next level, or re-prescribe him at the current dose. In doing a little research on some of my own eccentricities, I have discovered a potential theory for what may be causing the majority of Apollo's issues and it's something I never considered until I sat down and researched it. I have come to the realization that I actually have Sensory Processing Disorder and likely have my entire life. I can hear things most people can't (like dog whistles, security cameras and muted TVs), I can see millions of colors, I can't eat a lot of foods because my sense of taste goes overboard with bitterness (broccoli, mustard and pickles are all among the offensive foods) and I tend to overeat the good stuff, I am weird about what touches me and how it touches me and my sense of smell is stronger than everyone in my family. I never thought of it as a disorder or an over-processing of sensory input until I posted on Facebook that I was curious if there was a connection between my sensory overdrive and my migraines. Someone who read that post suggested it may be SPD and upon further research, I believe she is right. As an adult, there is little than can be done for me as I am too ingrained in my coping mechanisms and furthermore - it is believed to be hereditary. So if I have SPD, it is highly likely that Apollo does as well and he is young enough for intervention to be effective, so his therapist is ordering further diagnostic testing for him to try to come to a definitive answer, hopefully before school starts.
T is for Terrified. The 4th of July holiday was over the weekend, so I decided to try to take the boys to something fun to celebrate. I knew I didn't want to get into something too big or overwhelming because the last thing I wanted was a meltdown or to have to leave early. We decided to go to MGM high school in Semmes and go to the Freedom Celebration. Apollo was bouncing away, happily shifting between the bounce house, petting zoo and obstacle course. Then we took a short hiatus for a picnic dinner at the car and headed back inside to get a spot in the grandstands for the concert and fireworks. I made sure to place us in the front with an easy exit just in case of sensory overload. Even though the concert was insanely loud (no louder than any normal concert), Apollo sat there and seemed to be enjoying the concert. All 3 boys played with their glow sticks and seemed genuinely pretty happy... until it happened. The first fireworks exploded over the stage as the grand finale of the concert and almost immediately, Apollo's eyes went blank, he squeezed them tight and slammed his hands to ears. I was prepared for this possibility, but nevertheless, it still somewhat took me by surprise. He was in such a desperate shut down that I couldn't even pull his hands off his ears long enough to tell him we were leaving and I had to physically drag him, kicking and screaming from the stands. 45 pounds of weight is enough to shift around on a regular basis, but when that 45 pounds is slapping limbs all over the place, it can be miserable. I managed to get him into the wagon and to the car, but his hands didn't come off of his ears until we were 10 miles from MGM and he wouldn't sleep until well after 2 AM due the popping of fireworks everywhere around us at home. He finally got some relief with earplugs. I think we are going to be in the market for noise-canceling headphones VERY soon...
T is for Train. We decided to take a day trip to see how the boys would potentially fare on a longer trip or even a possible overnight trip. To make the story short, they didn't fare well and were grumpy and tired by the end, so we may be waiting a little longer for any real trips more than an hour or so from home. However, for dinner today we decided to visit the Derailed Diner in Robertsdale, AL which is built to appear to be a derailed train crashed into a building. The inside was fun and kitschy - reminded me heavily of Route 66 type decor. We got to sit in the dining car of the derailed train and the boys enjoyed looking around, pretending to be a on train and coloring their menus. Apollo made a huge mess of his chocolate milk, but otherwise did pretty well eating. The food was good but nothing spectacular, so this will likely be a one-time visit.
T is for Triceratops. As the main attraction for our day trip, we decided to trek over to Elberta, Alabama, to visit Barber Marina and its hidden treasures. It is essentially a big roadside attraction with lots of places to pull over and get pictures. The first thing on our list was to stop off at Alabama's version of Stonehenge, lovingly referred to as Bamahenge. It is an exact replica of Stonehenge and aligned for the solstice as well. Further on down the road there are dinosaurs! Hidden among the trees are a T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and an Apatosaurus, even though the latter is kind of hard to find. While Orion and Phoenix had seen these dinosaurs before, Apollo had not. He was a bit in awe of the first one (the fierce T-Tex) but by the end of the excursion, he was hugging the Apatosaurus! Success! Also found in and around the Marina were knights, a Lady in the Lake and a huge spider! Much fun was had, but I think it is going to be our last trip for a while. It was hot and sticky, the boys kept arguing and everyone was whining by the time we got home. I do believe we are about to change up the seating arrangements in the car because they can't be next to each other for more than 5 minutes before they're bickering.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Z is for Zoo
Z is for Zoo. We took a road trip last week to the Hattiesburg Zoo as a babysitting excursion with my niece. It was a good bit of a drive over (almost 2 hours due to thunderstorms), but once we got there, the skies cleared and though everything was wet, it turned into a nice day. By the end of the day, the skies were bright blue and it wasn't too terribly hot, even though we were all sweaty and nasty due to the humidity. Even though we were an hour and a half inland, it was still sticky wet and the air was straight up heavy. However, over the course of the four hours we spent at the zoo, the kids had a blast. The zoo wasn't the largest or the first zoo the kids have visited, but it was a pleasant trip with very little bickering between the kids. In fact, I can't think of a single snafu between the kids. Yes, they had their moments, but nothing more than a little whining. I am very proud of how all the kids acted, even Apollo. However, we have learned that we are also dealing with a potentially dangerous symptom - wandering. Watching four kids in a zoo is a little ambitious and Apollo wandered away from me more than once. Thankfully, he was never far, but it was a slightly terrifying moment to turn back from helping one child to find that the one who just right next to you has wandered off - especially when that child doesn't understand normal boundaries. He was located very quickly both times he wandered off, but I am considering a kid leash for him. Maybe not one of the backpack variety (though I do have one for the three year old who tends to be a runner), but maybe a wrist leash like I had as a kid. I remember it, so I am sure I was at least five the last time it was used and I don't fault my parents one bit.
The kids really enjoyed the bug playground. In fact, they would have stayed there absolutely all day had I let them. They also loved the train, which we saved for the last part of our regular tour of the zoo, right before our picnic. Their favorite animals were the Galapagos Tortoise, Peacock, Lemur and Zebras. They also liked the petting zoo, where they got to pet African pigs and goats. Also seen - tigers, alligators, flamingos, a giant anteater, a coatamundi and prairie dogs along with lots of snakes, birds and lizards. Overall, it was a lovely little excursion which ended with a fun trip to the splash pad located inside the zoo! There was even a hurricane simulator there that we used as a fun dryer. The splash pad excursion lasted over an hour and the final exhibit was the gift shop. It was also the most tension of the entire day. Adrianne quickly settled on a tiger and Orion found a tortoise and decided that was what he wanted, even though he had been talking nonstop about the snakes. So when Apollo also wanted the tortoise, I tried to convince Orion to get a snake instead and that began an argument between them that lasted fifteen minutes. I finally convince Apollo to get a snake, and he is now in love with it. So in the end, we brought home Ringo the Lemur, Spike the Tortoise and Kaa the Snake. Tricky the Tiger went home with Adrianne. The kids got a little whiny on the drive home, but it was over an hour and a half home after being at the zoo all day, so it wasn't totally unexpected and I would do it again - but with a leash for my little wanderer.
Z is for Zzzzz. It is now June and the temperature outside is already reaching the level of ridiculousness. Since the boys have consistently been coming inside smelling like they just came from a barn, I decided it was time for our annual summer buzzcuts. You can see Apollo's above a little bit, but it is so much more obvious with a before and after picture. He was a little hesitant about it and he hates the sound the clippers make, but thankfully this is typically a once-a-year type thing for him. His hair is thick and when it gets long, it gets super stinky when he sweats. His hair is going to be a pain in the neck by the end of summer due to his double cowlick, but for the next couple of months, we can take hair-brushing off our long list of getting dressed necessities since he takes forever to get ready as it is right now.
Z is for Zip. Following the zoo trip, we opened the OAP Waterpark in our backyard. My dad and I built the boys a homemade waterslide and splash pad. We also have a family swimming pool that I got last year on deep discount. It isn't a deep one, but it was nice to cool off in while the sun was heating things up. Even Phoenix was fearlessly sliding down the waterslide into a homemade retainer pool at the bottom - last year's stained, leaky family pool. The boys played for over an hour before momma decided it was time to go inside and get ready for dinner, but there were very few squabbles - mostly over who got to slide down on which kickboard and who got to play water basketball. Overall, it was a fun time had by all and they are already requesting to do it again! I told them they have to let the yard recover for a while before we can do it again, but I know I now have a useful bargaining chip for getting chores done!
The kids really enjoyed the bug playground. In fact, they would have stayed there absolutely all day had I let them. They also loved the train, which we saved for the last part of our regular tour of the zoo, right before our picnic. Their favorite animals were the Galapagos Tortoise, Peacock, Lemur and Zebras. They also liked the petting zoo, where they got to pet African pigs and goats. Also seen - tigers, alligators, flamingos, a giant anteater, a coatamundi and prairie dogs along with lots of snakes, birds and lizards. Overall, it was a lovely little excursion which ended with a fun trip to the splash pad located inside the zoo! There was even a hurricane simulator there that we used as a fun dryer. The splash pad excursion lasted over an hour and the final exhibit was the gift shop. It was also the most tension of the entire day. Adrianne quickly settled on a tiger and Orion found a tortoise and decided that was what he wanted, even though he had been talking nonstop about the snakes. So when Apollo also wanted the tortoise, I tried to convince Orion to get a snake instead and that began an argument between them that lasted fifteen minutes. I finally convince Apollo to get a snake, and he is now in love with it. So in the end, we brought home Ringo the Lemur, Spike the Tortoise and Kaa the Snake. Tricky the Tiger went home with Adrianne. The kids got a little whiny on the drive home, but it was over an hour and a half home after being at the zoo all day, so it wasn't totally unexpected and I would do it again - but with a leash for my little wanderer.
Z is for Zzzzz. It is now June and the temperature outside is already reaching the level of ridiculousness. Since the boys have consistently been coming inside smelling like they just came from a barn, I decided it was time for our annual summer buzzcuts. You can see Apollo's above a little bit, but it is so much more obvious with a before and after picture. He was a little hesitant about it and he hates the sound the clippers make, but thankfully this is typically a once-a-year type thing for him. His hair is thick and when it gets long, it gets super stinky when he sweats. His hair is going to be a pain in the neck by the end of summer due to his double cowlick, but for the next couple of months, we can take hair-brushing off our long list of getting dressed necessities since he takes forever to get ready as it is right now.
Z is for Zip. Following the zoo trip, we opened the OAP Waterpark in our backyard. My dad and I built the boys a homemade waterslide and splash pad. We also have a family swimming pool that I got last year on deep discount. It isn't a deep one, but it was nice to cool off in while the sun was heating things up. Even Phoenix was fearlessly sliding down the waterslide into a homemade retainer pool at the bottom - last year's stained, leaky family pool. The boys played for over an hour before momma decided it was time to go inside and get ready for dinner, but there were very few squabbles - mostly over who got to slide down on which kickboard and who got to play water basketball. Overall, it was a fun time had by all and they are already requesting to do it again! I told them they have to let the yard recover for a while before we can do it again, but I know I now have a useful bargaining chip for getting chores done!
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