The Big Playground

I am SO not ready for this.

I just got an email from Ben's teacher (she mass emails the monthly calendar, news letter, etc. to all the parents); it states on the calendar that the senior kindergarteners will start going to the big playground on May 25th (instead of playing in the fenced kindergarten area). This is a in preparation for grade 1 next year.

Grade 1?

It just hit me like a tonne of bricks.

I want my baby to stop growing up!

Ben made a new friend at school

A little girl named Emma.

At the end of the school day today Ben invited Emma to our house. I chatted with her mum a bit to make arrangements for another day to get the kids together during which time I noticed Ben reach out and hold Emma's hand. (So cute!) And as we were leaving Ben blew Emma a kiss, then yelled 'Did you get it??', to which Emma replied 'Yep!' holding up her little fist. (Adorable!!)

Halloween '10

At Ben's suggestion the kids went as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat.

I made the costumes. It was totally simple. Red pants, red shirts, 'dark shirt' iron on transfers, blue fleece (for single seam hats, as hair), and basic image editing to create the shirt logos. I got the hat for hair idea from a youtube video.

Here are my little Halloweenies this year!



(If you click the image you can see it in full size.)

So incredibly proud of Ben!

This is what my boy - the one who finds reading and spelling 'boring' - did at school last week!


I'm so, so incredibly proud of Ben. I burst into tears when his teacher showed me what he'd done (she invited me in at the end of the day to see). He worked so hard on it and was so proud of himself. What a kid.

The Fox

Ben told me this morning that he wanted to give all the money in his piggy bank to "the fox that runs on one leg". He means Canadian legend, Terry Fox. He'll be participating in The Terry Fox Run at school at the end of the month.

Niagara Falls

After our trip to the cottage we took the kids camping for a few nights in Niagara Falls. We spent a day at Marineland and another day at The Falls. Both kids had fun and Ben did something he hasn't done in at least a year -- napped! Each day following our outing he crashed in the car on the drive back to the site.

Here are some pics from that trip.

The cottage

Nic took a couple of weeks off work during which time we spent a few nights up at the cottage. The kids had a wonderful time. They loved going for walks, picking berries, and playing in the water. Sound sleep followed each night.

I think Ben's watching too much TV

This morning Ben was eager to get playing and was bugging Nic to play a game with him. Nic was still drinking his morning coffee on the deck and said 'Well, I'd like to finish my coffee first. Why don't you sit next to me and we'll chat?' So Ben does, and Nic starts talking about what we've done this weekend so far and tells Ben that he'll be taking a couple of weeks off work this month and what we'll do while Nic's off work. Finally Ben sighs and says 'Can we skip the commercial and just get to the game?'

Swim rave about Ben!

Since school let out I've had Ben enrolled in swim lessons. He's in the preschool programme through our town (the children's programme starts at age six) and has taken the same level lessons three times (he's in his third round now). He's been a bit nervous about floating on his own (front and back) and using floatation devices on his own to glide forward and backward.

In the previous lessons he got a handle on using floatation devices, but he was still nervous about floating on his own. However, he'd completely nailed the front float (for min. 3s) during his lessons, and on the weekend we had him at the pool ourselves where he figured out the back float. It was so awesome to see how proud he was of his accomplishment. I was SO excited for him. And his instructor today was so pleased for him, too.

So now Ben gets to level up and will start his new lessons in August. Yay Ben!!!

"I just had to organize my penis."

Add that to the list of phrases I never thought I'd heard spoken out loud.

It went like this...

Ben grabs at his crotch a few times and notices I'm looking.
Ben says "I don't have to pee. I just had to organize my penis."
Then he follows it up with "It was stuck to my leg."

This kid keeps me laughing!

Ben's spring concert

First, I wish I had photos, but I knew his teachers would be taking lots so I'm waiting for theirs.

Second, it was SO, SO cute!

Ben sat right up front and center for his public school concert debut. The theme was the ocean and titled 'Oceans of Fun'. His class sang The Beatles' Octopus' Garden and an unnamed dolphin song.

Based on Ben's level of enthusiasm we'd say his favourite parts were the air guitar segment of Octopus' Garden (adorable) and putting on a pair of super-cool shades during the dolphin song.

Here's a pic of Ben looking handsome in his hand-crafted octopus hat. :)

A couple of pics of the kids from Easter

A little late with these, but better late than never.

A couple of Ben musings

Yesterday at dinner Ben pointed at me and said 'boss', then pointed at Nic and said 'lady boss'.

Today Ben was playing with some other kids after school. I called him over for a moment. When he approached he looked at me and said 'What's up, little mama?'.

Oh, and on a non-musing related topic, Ben did up his coat zipper for the first time ever today. Yay Ben! He's also started buckling himself into his car seat and announcing how he's cut my work in half.

Little update on Ben and kindergarten

Let me start by saying how much Ben's learned since starting school. His printing and drawing has come a long way; what were once random scribbles (at the beginning of the year) are now legible letters and images. There's nothing more enjoyable to see in his school folder (which comes home at the end of each school day) than pictures Ben's drawn all on his own.

From a social standpoint I think it's been a bit tough on him being the youngest. He's incredibly social and engaging when he's playing in a small group outside of school, but at school he's not interacting a whole lot with the other kids, even during free-play time. It's a departure from preschool where he made friends and played easily with the other kids. I think part of the problem (for Ben) in kindergarten is that there is a 'three kids to a bin' rule, presumably to cut down on squabbles over toys, and Ben isn't forward enough to get himself into a group early on and ends up either playing alone or spaces out a bit, off in his own imaginary world.

I think next year will be a bit easier for Ben since he'll be in senior-kindergarten and still in a JK/SK blended class, so there will be children younger than him. And he'll have had the experience of JK behind him.

Ben - true Canadian kid!

Ben's started skating this winter. Initially I wasn't sure how it would go. He gets so easily frustrated when he's not immediately good at something. We enrolled him in skating lessons - he's had three so far, and he's done SO well! He gets right back up when he falls down and keeps on trying. He's definitely determined!

When Ben first started lessons he hadn't been on skates at all. He was very reliant on a skate trainer to hold onto to assist him with balance. His last lesson, however, he did three widths of the rink with only one fall in the beginning.

I've had him out a few times myself and the improvement each time is quite impressive. And I was so proud of him last week when he let go of the trainer to skate next to me - he announced 'I'm skating! I'm skating!! I'm skating with YOU, Mama!!!' What a wonderful moment that was and one I'll always hold close to my heart.

I'll try to post a few pics in the next few days. I often forget to bring along the camera when we're out - which is probably fine by Ben as he isn't crazy about having his photo taken - but we do have a few.

Update on Ben's peanut allergy

So yesterday was Ben's scheduled appointment for the oral challenge for peanut at Sick Kids Hospital. They start the appointment by checking his vitals and then by administering a skin prick test for the allergen using an extract (as well as positive and negative controls).

Unfortunately we didn't get past the skin prick test as he had a strong positive response to the peanut extract. This is following a previous negative test to both the peanut extract and peanut butter in August. We don't know what to think. I've left a message with Ben's allergist's office to find out what we should do next: go into the office for a repeat test, wait 6 months (for what would be Ben's usual annual appointment), or wait 12 months.

To say we're disappointed, I suppose, would be an understatement. Despite knowing the test could go either way it's difficult to not hold out hope that this could be it and Ben wouldn't have to consider this allergy long-term. But, on a positive note, I would much rather find out without him having a terrible reaction. Not getting past the skin prick test, however, just feels like a step backwards, especially after months of waiting for the challenge date.

We were a bit blindsided by the allergist performing the skin test. I'd discussed the best way to mentally prepare Ben for the challenge with his allergist (the supervising allergist on duty at the Sick Kids allergy clinic the day of the challenge) at a previous appointment and he'd suggested to not get into detail until the result of the SPT at the challenge appointment - sounded like a great plan to me. If the result had been negative then we'd proceed and explain to Ben that he would eat a little bit of peanut. BUT the allergist performing the test had a different plan and told Ben while he was administering the scratch test that he would be eating peanuts. Ben immediately got upset and said he didn't want to, and so Nic and I were left trying to explain the situation to him -- and in the end all for nothing because he had a positive skin test anyway. Grr. (On a side note I will say that I am very impressed with my boy's adamant stance on not eating peanut. Such a smart boy.)

Our independant boy

When we got home from school on Monday I'd noticed Ben's entire outfit had changed: shirt, underwear, pants, and socks. So naturally I asked him what happened. He tells me he tried to pee standing up and proceeded to explain that the toilet was in one direction and his pee went in another (and apparently all over him - oops!). So I asked him if his teacher helped him and he said 'No, I handled it pretty well all by myself. I cleaned up all the pee with paper towel!' (And he was so proud of himself!)

Anyway, I had a feeling his teacher wasn't aware for a few reasons: a) his wet clothes didn't come home in his bag, b) he'd forgotten to transfer his epipen to his new pants (he told me he didn't know how to clip it on), and c) she hadn't mentioned it to me when I was chatting with her at the end of the day.

So, forward to this morning. I asked her if she'd known and sure enough she didn't. He really did handle it all by himself! He made a mess, cleaned it up, went out and got his bag of spare clothes, changed, put all his wet clothes in the bag and put them back in his cubby. I'm impressed!

Ben's first letter to Santa

Ben dictated his letter to me, I printed it, and he'll sign his name.

Dear Santa Claus,

I want to write a note so you know what I want.

I am three.

I want curved Lego (Duplo), Santa Claus.

I want eggnog, Santa Claus.

I want candy canes from Santa Claus.

Caitlin crawls because she’s a baby. Maybe she will want markers.

She’s my sister.

She also climbs up on the couch. And she climbs on me! And she climbs on Mama. And on Daddy.

I’ve been a good boy and helping Mama.

I like school.

Thank you for all the stuff you gave me and for all the dinners that I have (but not from Santa). Thank you!

Love for Santa Claus,

Ben

An all-around allergy update

Okay, so that isn't me, but it sums up how I feel about ##$$#@ allergies.

Let me start with Ben.

As I mentioned in a previous post he'd reacted to raw egg. I since brought him back to the allergist who didn't bother testing him with raw anyway. He feels based on Ben's recent history of consuming cooked egg that it's just a matter of time before he outgrows it completely and to keep going as we have been, i.e., keep offering him cooked egg and other forms that he's been fine with and avoid whole egg mayo and other raw forms, like whole egg eggnog (Ben's been fine with store-bought since it's egg yolks only). So that's good news. I hope. The allergist did advise me to bring along an egg to Ben's peanut challenge (even though I had one for his appointment) and he'd skin test him with it then.

And now Caitlin.

As I also mentioned in an earlier post Caitlin was tested for egg and peanut and tested negative for both. The allergist said we could introduce both foods anytime. We haven't intro'd peanut since we don't keep peanut in the house, but I have given Caitlin scrambled egg on two occassions and both times she reacted (redness and small hives on the chin). Today I was at the allergist for my own appointment (seasonal and pet allergies) and I mentioned Caitlin's reaction to egg, so he tested her with raw egg and she reacted. Not strongly, however, which indicates that this will be something she'll also outgrow. In the meantime he recommended we continue to challenge with egg at home. Caitlin has had quiche with no problems and some baked goods, so I suspect the scrambled wasn't as well cooked hence the reaction.

Man oh man, it sure would be easy if this allergy business were more straightforward.

As for me, I'm still allergic to cats and dogs, and have more seasonal allergies than before (throw in grass and a bunch of weeds). The allergist didn't recommend allergy shots and definitely didn't recommend we have cats or dogs as it could make my allergies worse to the point of asthma, and I definitely don't want that. So now I have to figure out what our family pet options are. Fish and birds just don't cut it.

An unusually beautiful November day

A perfect day to take lots of pics of the kids!