Baby Born ~ September 2007 # 73

[Ozstar]

Sounds like all our kids are doing well at school!

Cass yes the weather was nuts. Mums flight got cancelled and everything. We didn't go and check out the foam on the beaches, to dangerous in my opinion. Who knows what was underneath it all.

Re bed time my kids, especially L are early risers so we have a 6.30/7 bedtime. So nice to have some wind down time to myself.

Arte it sounds like W has the right teacher!! Fantastic that there were no dramas with the uniform too.

[AnyDream]

Hi ladies! How's things? I've had a really busy week, peeling the eyelids open early is wrecking me LOL. Had a work deadline and DH is away but I'm happy to report the brain pills are well and truly working now. Which is a bit of a double edged sword because there's a mile-long list of things I've been ignoring for a long, long time that I now have the brainal power to think about, so I'm in for a busy few months in my Quest to Get My Life Sorted. LOL.

Trill, how was L when you saw him today??! I've been thinking of you with your baby away - I guess it resonates with me since I was in boarding school at the same age. Will he be coming home on weekends throughout the term?

Cally - I LOL'd at your description of K playing schools - that's a very uni-child way of playing, H was the same. E on the other hand demands a constant stream of live audience members/playmates, because she's never really known what it is to play by yourself. Have you decided what to do about bedtimes?

Arte - Yay for W's smooth school start - soooo not what you were expecting last year! and YAY for your house selling, great to have the $$ pressure reduced a bit. Good luck with the new semester. How many units are you doing?

And in the Weka's defence - it prolly looked a bit like a sausage...?!

Ginger - it's fantastic that L's school has an ASD unit, I'm sure that will make a huge difference. I can only imagine how exhausting it must be dealing with all the new info/phone calls/paperwork. I hope you're remembering to take a little time out to recharge yourself in the middle of it all.

Oz - 6.30 bedtime?! Wowsers - we're still getting in the door/bath/dinner at that time. LOL. And H has a tendency to hang around prolonging bedtime as well (esp during school hols) so the window of downtime has dwindled in this house.

So, how's school going at the end of the first/second week? E seems to be settling in fine in the classroom - she's made a few little friends and they all say hello to each other when they arrive, and some of them go to OHSC so they're getting play time with each other too, which is nice. She's still a bit daunted by some stuff. I'm really going to have to watch the tendency towards anxiety/perfectionism in this one - a couple of times she's been upset because she hasn't finished something (like hasn't coloured in every inch on the colouring in sheet). Oh dear. I wonder if we are going to be able to make to the end of 2013 without getting psychological assistance for 4/4 family members ??!

[Cassius2]

heya lovelies!

Trill: oohhh i second MD! how was it seeing L?!! how did you cope? i was thinking about it this week, how weird it must be...

MD: wahoo for the awesome drugs but uh oh for the brainiac action hahahaha! i too am so not coping with getting up earlier and trudging off to school for drop offs and pick ups. woah, what a shock to my system!!

Oz: we have had a few earlier nights but 6.30 does sound lovely! our girls tend to go down around 7.30. i do enjoy my evenings

AFM: Miss L is loving school. she was bummed that today she doesnt go (fridays off for the first term) and is now moping about the house 'being bored'. they have already had a relief teacher though as her teacher broke her arm in class and had to go to hospital and now is in a cast! she also has her first ever swim class this afternoon. as i mentioned before it has been quite the battle to find a class...but we did she is soo excited!

[AnyDream]

Cass, wow Fridays off, what an awesome idea. I don't think I mentioned how especially REVOLTING E has been most afternoons/evenings - the poor kid is all tuckered out. An extra (calm) day at home each week would do her a world of good.

How did the teacher break her arm in class? OH&S ALERT!! Freaky. What does L think of the relief teacher? We rocked up today (a tiny bit late ) and there was this ginormous 2-metre plus 20something dude there instead of the normal short round cuddly lady teacher. LOL. E was somewhat taken aback, I think.

Good luck with the swimming lessons, E's been going for a couple of terms now and loves it.

[Artechim]

All good here.

Trill, how is it having your big boy home? I bet he is full of stories of how awesome his school is

MD, just one paper per semester. I was very tempted to do two and get it finished this year, but they are third year papers now and I don't want to overcommit - especially since E's day naps may not last forever and I have decided to stand for BOT elections for the local high school. ATM most people who can either move away or send their kids to boarding school. The only way I can see to improve it enough that it is an option for my kids is to help fix it myself. Turns out I am rather passionate about kids having the opportunity for good schooling regardless of the socio-economic area they live in and it has been irking me that the town accepts having a school so badly run.

School is going really well. I have had a couple of chats with W's teacher and he is settling in beautifully. They have swimming 4 days per week for the first 5 weeks (then the pool gets too cold) through school and next week he will start swim club twice a week in the evenings. He is a bit of a couch potato when he gets home but not too bad. He has been riding to and from school himself which has made the duel drop off a breeze.

[MamaPan]

Hi All
I will be quick as I am at work (yes on a Saturday) when I'd rather be out enjoying the sunshine with the kids and DH!
N started Prep on wed and so far its wonderful. he is loving it and has settled in so well, wasnt nervous at all (i guess a benefit of being at the school already) and it has all gone so well. he has been really tied at the end of the days as you could expect but very happy about it all. no lost uniform biys tet but missing a lid from a lunch container and an ice puck already! he came home yesterday and can write his name in hebrew - was super proud of himself! i love how excited he gets when he learns something new. he really wants to do both drama and tae kwon do. was thinking of starting him but he is so tirwed after school i'll leave it for this term at least. the daram is across the road from our house and is also on a saturday arvo. so that could be good - i just dont want another commitment on a saturday.
J also started kinder and has settled amazingly - no tears, no leg holding basically a wave and off he went. hes loving being there now as hes watched N go the last 2 years. The only hiccup was that he is devestated not to be in Prep! he claimed he didnt need to go to kinder or make friends with the other 3 yo as he has 5yo friends. and it was hard to get him downstairs after drop off of N to start in Kinder. That said, he got a bday invite on day 1 so ui think he has come around to the upside of having his own mates - and so it all begins! he has been twice so far for half days and yesterday was talking about a couple of the kids - so all good on that front!

I am so pleased everyone has settled so well. Arte - you must be thrilled W has settled so easily. What a change a yeaer makes, and i bet you are glad you didnt push him last year. His teacher sounds amazing and switched on. Am sure she will find areas to enrich him.

Trill - ive been thinking of you with L off at boarding school. it must be a strange feeling... must have been great to see him yesterday and i am sure he has amazing things to tell you. he seems so bright and switched on. how are the other kids going with him away?

Ginger - wow on J's diagnosis. and wowwwwww on the school which sounds amazing - see it was meant to be for you guys! I hope you are feeling ok about it all, it doesnt change anything really as you say but its still hard to put yourself or your kid in a 'category' iykwim. i know i felt that way with N's vision issues. It must be great to have the 1:1 time with J and to feel like you are working through it all. We are all here for you to offload, vent, be excited about progress etc.
xxxx

Cass - how goes it with 3? is M at creche at all?

MD - yay for a lifting of the fog. bah for the list of things to get in order! how is H going? I cant believe she is well into teenagerhood! so glad e is going well at school...are they at the same school?

OK better go get my work done so i can escape. have a great weekend!

[AnyDream]

Arte - I'm guessing the BOT thing is like the school council mechanism? Sort of like a democratic governing body that has the capability to influence certain things in the school? That's excellent that W is able to slot right into the swimming on a regular basis.

I'm currently tossing up whether I should bite off a second subject. With my new pill-improved brain I was thinking of picking up an extra day/week @ work (we are so broke after a year of paying E's cc fees on top of H's school fees). BUT then I did the sums and because it would nudge me into HECS-repayment-dom and out of FTB eligibility I would be working a whole extra day for all of $1600 per YEAR (not to mention the Centrelink overpayment slapdown). Which comes out at about $5/hour. Ummm.... so not worth it. So then I'm thinking, maybe I should pick up an extra subject instead? If I do one it will be a boring 3rd year subject, but instead I could slap a 1st year subject together with a really interesting elective. Gah! What to do???

MP - sounds like N has had an awesome start to school. LOL at J thinking he can just go to school already! It's great when they start making their own little friends. E has been really tired too. There are after school sports activities at our school but I think we might just give it a miss until she's got a better handle on the changed routine. I do love being back at the school though - so different from high school where your kids would much rather you dont' make an appearance EVER. LOL. H is a at a different school which is going to be a world of double-drop off pain for the next 4 years.

[MamaPan]

oh i know where you're at with the double drop off pain, we've been there too!!!! its one of the best things for us now that they are at one place. i meant to reply when you mentioned it before - could you 'roster' with another family at one or both of the schools? that way perhaps you could minimise how often you have to do both drop offs? Do you pick up as well?
There must be other families in the same situation or even a friend who could take one or the other some days?

if it was me i'd pick up the subject. but then again I am at work on a SATURDAY! lol

we had a big family dinner at our place last night, was a bit of work for me (12 of us this time) but so worth it. we will; do it once a month so i need to perfect what i make. last night i did a roasted chicken casserole, pasta, 2 salads (a divine cabbage and almond asian one and a broccoli, bean, cherry tom and chickpea one) and then apple crumble for dessert. it wasnt too hard but a bit of running around... will try to perfect something i can prepare earlier so it isnt stressful and we keep doing it.

we have so many plans in march i just realised - first weekend DH, I and BIL and SIL are away to the day on the green, 2nd weekend we are away with both families for a beach weekend and then the next friday DH and I go to thailand for our 10 yr wedding anni (DH away for work that week before). busy busy busy!

[Ginger]

hi girls

sounds like the little ones have all had great starts to school which is fabulous

md- sounds like the extra subject wouldnt be a bad idea. so not worth working for $5 an hour. you will blow it all on coffees etc.!

mp- we are are not doing an extra activities outside of school at the moment. he is just too tired (and so am i, tbh) and i just want to concentrate on school. maybe i'll pick something up for him in term 2 or 3 if he wants to- maybe auskick?

arte- great that W can ride to school and back. that is awesome! L will eventually be able to get the bus but he just seems too little for now.

trill- bet your enjoying some lovely time with L. let us know how he went, thinking of you xox

oz- i wish i could get my boys to go to bed that early! at the moment we have an 'after the block finishes' bedtime, which sometimes drags it out to 8.30pm!!! it is just so light down here with daylight savings, i find it really hard to get them to bed early. it doesnt get dark till very late.

cally- sounds like you have a little 'block-a-holic' on your hands too lol L is begging me to take him to see dan and dani at the mitre 10 apperances after the series finishes. he loves dani!! dh reckons its because of her gorgeous long legs lol i like josh and jenna myself.

cass- i really dont know where to start with the red flags on J. his ability with numbers is quite outstanding, and his obsession with thomas is completely over the top. i guess mainly it was when other people started saying things that it really ticked something in me. my friend introduced him to her friend at a party by saying that "J marches to the beat of his own drum' and another friend jokingly called him 'rainman' one day. he has started pulling all his thomas trains apart with screw drivers and then puts them all back together piece by piece. he also makes his own hybrid trains with parts from percy mixed with parts from thomas etc. when we go to kids' birthday parties, he never joins in with the games like pass the parcel etc. i always used to think 'oh he's just young etc.) but then i noticed that siblings younger than him have started joining in. he's such a gorgeous quirky kid, so unique. i took him to the gp one day and he was being very obstructive to the gp, who said to me 'at this age, when they act like this, there is usually something going in'. idk, i mean i could talk about it for hours. there hasnt been one single thing, its a whole group of different examples. when i took them to the myer xmas santa train, L happily got on the train and had a ride around with the other children whereas J refused to get on the train but lay on the ground watching the pistons or whatever of the train as it chugged into the station and had a complete melt down when we had to leave, he wanted to lie there all day and watch the wheels of the train moving.

the good news is that L was invited to a bday party on thurs night where i got introduced to a mum who has a little preppie in L's class who has asd. she told me that i was exactly where she was 2 years ago, and has put me onto a wonderful speechie who she said changed their boy's life and finally got him speaking and eating. she had me in tears telling me what they had gone through and how far he has come. she put him in this school specifically because of the asd and even pulled her older dd out of another school and switched her across so her ds could be there. anyway i rang the speechie yeaterday and we are going there in a couple of weeks. the wheels are in motion! i am making it my business to know everything about asd- reading books, novels, everything... thanks for letting me talk about it in here.

[MamaPan]

G - you are just wonderful.
xxxxxxx

[Cally]

Ginger - how fortunate, bumping into that mum.

MD - do the extra subject.

Arte - good idea, re standing for the BOT. Will give you a chance to try and make some changes, understand how everything works and hopefully have some improvements before W gets there. So handy with W being able to ride by himself to school!

MP - love the idea of big family meals each month. My family try to have family night each week (rotated through the houses) which we miss out on unfortunately. So not a thing DH's family would do though. Enjoy the single drop offs.

Trill - have you settled into routine without L? Or are you like my mum who bawled the first few weeks I went to uni each time she pulled 5 plates out for dinner instead of 4? Which I can totallly understand now!

Oz - wow to 6:30 bedtime. Sometimes we're still eating then, I don't get home one night a week until 6:15!

We are sort of going with the 7:15 bedtimes. She has totally accepted it, but sometimes we just run out of time in the evenings. Yes, the Block is making it tricky, I've recorded it a couple of times for her to watch the next day after school. Also trying to get her to have a shower while dinner is cooked, rather than afterwards but that is being harder to implement. So far she doesn't seem to be too tired - maybe the years of CC 5 days a week are coming through? We're still doing swimming (Friday arvo), that will only be this term though, the $5000 elec bill for heating over winter last year means they're not opening it this winter. And doing ballet on Monday arvo, but the teacher is away for a few weeks mid term so it ends up only being 7 lessons or so. If she seems to be struggling, we can have a little break. Easter being so early is handy as it will be a good long weekend before those last couple of weeks of school.

She has decided that she doesn't want to wear the shorts and polo uniform option - I got a size 6 polo and it's 'too big'. So we'll have to buy another dress this week.

[Artechim]

I wish we could do an earlier bedtime. ATM they go to bed around 8pm but by the time stories etc are done it is usually 8.30/9pm by the time they go to sleep.

G, I wish I was there in person to spin a yarn about the kids. Obviously W isn't the same as other kids. (He has stopped the obsessive licking though - mostly) The anxiety is a real kicker here and I think the basis of his ritualistic behaviour (needing to control his environment). The end result is probably the same though - tantrums if it isn't observed correctly. Feel free to PM me, I can probably relate to a lot of what you are dealing with.
I remember JM saying how advanced he is with numbers and letters. Have you looked at 2e kids?

I may have overstated W riding to school by himself - we live 100m away on the same side of the road so it isn't a massive achievement lol

After my proclamation of better sleep, E has some sort of runny guts bug and has spent the last few nights waking constantly and being weaned now I can't even shut her up with boob. Had to send DH with the big kids to a birthday party today while I stayed at home with grumpy.

[Artechim]

Hello *listens for echo*

House settlement tomorrow Will have to use some of the extra cash to buy another car, since mine was written off after the big drink it had. Who would have thought one dose of muddy water would kill a car.

William says they spend too much time at school having breaks and playing games and not enough time learning. I shall remind him of this when he is older lol

[AnyDream]

Hi Arte, I'm here!!

MP - I don't have to pick them both us, DD1 makes her own way home. Thank goodness. Your big family dinner sounds lovely. Enjoy your time in Thailand, and happy anniversary!

G -

idk, i mean i could talk about it for hours. there hasnt been one single thing, its a whole group of different examples

I've been feeling exactly the same way re H. I was talking to a coworker today who has 2 kids with ADHD and the similarities with H are unreal. Of course that's way different to ASD but we very much have the quirky & gorgeous factor in common LOL. I'm so glad you've connected with another mum, I'm sure she will be a great source of support and info and advice and reassurance for you (and one day you'll by able to pay it forward to another mum who's still in diagnosis shock ). The school just sounds better and better doesn't it.

cally - so cute that K only wants to wear her school dress. E objects to her sports shirt/shorts too. I'm looking forward to the Easter long weekend already too. LOL. We get a march pub hol here as well. i'm not complaining.

Arte - YAY - hope the settlement all goes through smoothly for you tomorrow. What sort of car do you think you'll get? I'd love a new(er) car, my little budgiemobile's getting a bit long in the tooth. Plus it smells a bit funky since DH started driving it to work, he goes to the gym then gets back in the car while he's all sweaty. Urgh. BTW I didn't realise you'd weaned E?! When did that happen? How do you feel about it?

Trill, how are things with you?

Well, after asking all your advice, I settled with the one 3rd year subject. It just felt right (and can I tell you it feels good to have my sense of intuition seeping back in). Probably a good idea not to bite off too much while i'm still in Getting My Life Sorted mode. I'm taking a week's leave next week for an organisational blitz. It's too hard when the kids are at home.

[Trillian]

I'm still alive!!!! OMG I've just been so busy with lots of awesome things happening.

MD, normally I tell people to pick up the extra because it's easier to drop one if it's too hard as opposed to wishing you'd picked up an extra, but for you my dear, I think you have made the right choice. Better to take one and absolutely blitz it (which I know you will because you're THAT awesome!) than to take the two and feel overwhelmed kwim? there will be time later on to take on the two at a time.

G, I have been thinking about you so much lately and how you're all going. our close friend's have a DS who finally got a dx at 4yo for autism as well. it's funny how others can see it as well - in our circle we all knew that there could be something going on, but unlike you, they were in total denial about it so none of us were game to say anything because they would have taken it badly. They just put it down to him being 'busy' or full on etc. I have a photo of him when he was 6 months old when our hospital had the maternity ward christmas party (when L was 10mths old - he and their son were born the same year) and you can see it in his eyes that he was off in his own world. And you should definitely sign L up for Auskick! it's the greatest early sports program for all kids of all abilities. Even if they don't end up playing footy anyway, it is still a great program that will help them with any team/ball sports.

MP the anniversary trip sounds lovely! I think in winter your dinners will be easier - just make something in the slow cooker and a dessert that you can prepare ahead and you're done.

Arte, so what car are you going to get? ours is playing up and not starting properly. it had the fuel pump replaced last week and it's still got the same problem. I'd love to replace it when I'm working next year and just be rid of it before it becomes a big problem.

Cally, bedtimes are about 8pm here, it's just too hard to get them into bed earlier. Especially if DH is on dayshift and they like to wait till he comes home to say goodnight to him. I'm glad our uniform doesn't include a dress otherwise E would prefer to wear that, but P is a shorts/skorts girl so hand me downs would be a right pain!

So the exciting news for me is that I got a JOB!!! like one that you get paid for and everything! It's as a teachers aid 4 days a week mon-wed and then fridays. The teacher who I did literacy groups for last year called me and asked me if I'd like the job. She's also the assistant principal so this holds me in very good stead to get a job there as a teacher next year. I rotate around 3 classes - a 1/2 literacy class, this teacher's own 5/6 maths class and a 5/6 literacy class. For the maths class she is letting me take a group of 10 students to a class on my own and she said I could run my own program, so I will effectively be teaching! I'm staying back after I officially finish to set up the classroom and she has also said if there is any resources that I need that the school doesn't have they will buy them as they are really focusing on improving numeracy levels this year so they have allocated a bigger budget for it. I'm just so excited that she's wanting me to do this and supporting me. DH reckons I'm being ripped off because I'll be effectively teaching but not getting a teacher wage for it, but it's all about the bigger picture and it's only 1 50 minute lesson so I don't mind. I just have to do what I need to do so I can get a job there. But the bonus of that is I was going to do my last two prac placements at the school anyway but now i can continue doing my TA work as well as my prac and keep getting paid! And like I said to DH, I may not be getting paid as a teacher, but I will be earning money through 8 weeks of prac this year instead of it costing us money.

And L is going so well! I still miss him terribly though. He had his swimming carnival on friday night so the kids and I went over and OMG I thought saying goodbye to him the first time was hard, but this was soooo much harder again! Because this time he was a bit teary (from just being overtired i think) and I cried on the way home he's really happy there though and not getting too homesick. He said he usually feels it when something happens he wants to tell me but can't kwim? he's made a really good friend already which was one of his biggest worries so that has really put my mind at ease. He's on a camp and will be back today and then on the weekend he was apparently going to Gundagai show with the show sheep team. So he's getting involved and making sure he's busy. He even said he doesn't feel like a new kid anymore. He will come home for the first time next Friday and the kids are excited. A has been missing him quite a bit too so he's really looking forward to it and keeps asking how many more sleeps till he's home.

[Artechim]

Trill, that is awesome about the job!! Maybe a lesser wage for a bit, but it pretty much guarantees you a job for next year. And at the end of the day some money is better than no money! Sounds like the timing is all working out really well.
We are probably getting a Grand Vitara - in the right price range and has 7 seats which I like because then W can go in the back back and not squash up with the girls which results in too much noise for my liking. Plus it is handy on the odd occasion when we have someone else to take (like when the IL's visit).
Sounds like L is keeping himself very busy. So he isn't home every weekend? That school still sounds fantastic to me.

MD, good idea to do the one paper. It makes life much less stressful when you only bite off a suitable amount. E weaned while we were away on holiday. She slept through a couple of nights and I think my milk went, then she fed again during the night when she cut a molar but as soon as that was through she gave it away completely. I am…what is that word….ecstatic!! Downside though - all the weight I lost last year has crept on again over the last few months as I have been having sneaky junk food. But I don't really care. I guess at some point you get to realise there are more important things in life than being skinny and I am reasonably happy with being a fat chick.

My new uni paper arrived this morning. A bit of an odd course it seems - 5 assignments worth a total of 15% that have to be submitted but aren't graded - marks are for handing them in?! and then the exam paper is given a couple of months prior to the exam. I guess there is no reason not to do well, but I suspect the vagueness of it will make it a challenge.

[Trillian]

URGH! Arte I hate those types of units with a passion! I'm sure you're not fat either I've been getting up at 6am to go for a bike ride before getting the kids up for school. Not really for the purpose of losing weight, but more to be proactive and do what I can to keep my activity levels up kwim? any weight loss is a nice bonus but I don't think there's been any yet LOL. I like the 7 seaters for that reason too. we only use the 3rd row if DH is with us and one has to go in the back, but sometimes if E is being a turd we'll sit her over there anyway. She has never, ever liked being in a car for longer than 20 minutes which makes for a very painful road trip! The school he goes to backs onto a river so most afternoons he goes fishing down there with his mates. Probably won't do that so much in winter though.

[Artechim]

Trill, I should totally do something about my energy levels. I am the personification of sloth atm. My only exercise is walking 50m to kindy and back twice a day. Not even that on weekends.

Day 2 of Erin in knickers was a complete success! Dry all day, except for a nap accident. She even found me at kindy when I was gas bagging to someone and told me that she needed to go. A toilet training 17 month old. Thrilled! (have I ever mentioned I am so over nappies!)