Quinn's Writing Journal

Here's a few excerpts from Quinn's second grade writing journal.

"Dear Miss M,
I wish I was in math right now!!
Love,
Quinn"

"Dear Quinn,
I know that you love math and that you're awesome at it! Why don't you write about why you like math and what kind of math you like.
Your teacher,
Miss M"

"Quinn loves math. He knows 11\2=5.5 and is even in third grade math because the square root of 100 is 10. He loves football video games. He likes football. He knows the square root of 400 is 20. He loves himself."

Picture Day

Today was the dreaded school picture day. Well, dreaded by Quinn who claims the photographers are too bossy. (I'd have to agree. After years of working in a public school I've come to dread the directions of "turn your head a little bit to the left" "not so much" "put your chin down" "up a little" etc.etc.)

In the past (when I was working) I'd make it a point to go out and find nice new shirts for the boys for their picture day. Not this year. This year I looked in their closets and don't they just look adorable?!

First Days

 

Yesterday was the boys first day of school - Liam starting kindergarten and Quinn starting second grade.   The past two weeks have been difficult for me.  I've probably spent too much time thinking about how the start of the school year was supposed to be - how Liam was going to be without the difficulties resulting from his stroke.  I won't go into the details, but he was going to own that place.  His confidence, his personality, his language, his friends...

 

Anyway... I must say that after the first day I felt much relief.  The speech therapist and occupational therapist made sure to touch base with me during the brief 30 minute window given to parents to meet the teachers/drop off supplies.  They also introduced themselves to Liam and the occupational therapist played with him outside for a bit.  His teacher has just been absolutely amazing in her communication with me and gave me a big thumbs up and a smile at the end of his first morning.  Liam also came out with a huge smile on his face.

 

He wasn't worried or nervous at all about starting... it was if he did own that place.  I'm still nervous that he's going to struggle to communicate with his friends, but after watching him play with one of his good buddies yesterday after the PTA sponsored picnic, I felt a bit better.

 

Another bright note - he had a homework assignment to put two things into a small paper bag to help describe him.  He immediately said, "I am strong," and found a 3-pound weight that would fit into the bag.  Then he struggled for what else and I asked him what he likes to play... "Baseball" - so he went into school this morning with those two things and I hope that the words come easily to him while he's describing them to his class.  We also had to decorate a paper-cut-out of a boy and he was able to communicate with me his ideas (with some help).

 

I'm going to try to follow some advice from a good friend and focus on what's in front of me right now and just take very brief glances at the past and the future.  It hasn't been easy for me to imagine what this week would have been like if the stroke never happened.  But, it did happen, and the support I've gotten thus far from the school has been amazing and Liam, so far, seems happy and excited to be going to kindergarten.

 

 

Busy

I so wish I could have caught a quick nap in the car today.

I've never been the type to over-schedule my kids, or myself.  When choosing activities I'm always careful of making sure we don't try to do too much.  It seems that I just can't avoid this right now.  Between therapy appointments, doctor appointments, tests, and then the normal every day stuff that we signed up for months ago - the month of August is booked solid.

Today was one of those days. 

The boys and I left the house this morning with a picnic lunch packed - and returned briefly to leave Quinn at home with Mike while Liam and I finished up the day.

Come to think of it - we only had three things "to do" - but boy did it take a lot out of me (and Liam).

First - therapy - today was an easy day - just speech, so Quinn came along.  I'm beyond happy to report that Liam's speech therapist reported that he's making "quick progress" and she's already had to readjust a goal she just wrote for him last week.  Good news.  Very good news, in fact. 

I'm also happy to report that Quinn is content (and even happy) to have a solid hour to just sit and read a book - though he doesn't just sit - he's quite possibly the antsiest reader I've seen - but he's happy to have the time to just read and the book must have been good today because he was laughing out loud and sharing the funny stuff with me.

Then, we had a break in the day, but not enough of a break to make going home worth it, so we headed to a new-to-us park for some playtime and a picnic lunch.  (The benefits of packing a picnic lunch always outweigh the dread I have of making lunches - much cheaper than buying lunch AND much healthier than anything I could just "pick up".) 

After our picnic lunch we headed over to Chess Camp for Quinn (one of the normal things we signed up for months ago).  Liam and I made a quick trip to the grocery store and then spent the rest of the time playing at the park.

Finally, we headed home where the boys were able to veg for a bit in front of the TV until Liam and I had to leave for his doctor's appointment.

This one was with his pediatrician and was very interesting.  She shared with me that she's done a lot of research on what has happened with Liam and she truly believes the stroke was caused by the chicken pox vaccine.  We talked about a delayed schedule for this next baby.  She also told me about her own son's reaction to a vaccine just a few months ago.  He had just turned five and a week after having his vaccines started having accidents.  They did an EEG and found him to be having seizures.  These went away after about six weeks and she's traced it back to the MMR he had.  Crazy.  But nice to know she will understand our fear and cautiousness of moving forward with other vaccines.

That being said, Mike and I have also discussed looking for a different doctor.  Our doctor has always been open to our suggestions for postponing vaccines and offering natural remedies before drugs, but has never been the one to suggest anything like that.  When I saw a friend of mine the day Liam had his vaccines (four vaccines) she said, "Four!?  My pediatrician would never do four at once."  I would like a doctor that suggests things like waiting and natural remedies first.  I've been happy with a doctor that agrees with my suggestions, but I might like to have a doctor suggest things to me first.  Things I might not have thought of.

Of course now that I know the history of our doctor and she knows our history - the two of us might be able to better work together.  I think I will ask my friend for her pediatrician's number and interview him/her... just to see what's out there.

I didn't intend for this post to become one about vaccines, but I couldn't mention the doctor's appointment without mentioning what was discussed.  I am sure I will be posting more in the future about vaccines and what we've done in the past and what we'll be doing in the future.

Anyway... after the doctor's appointment Liam and I finally had some dinner and made it home in time for a bath, books, and bedtime. 

(Coming up tomorrow - Liam has an EEG to rule out any seizure activity - something that happens in some kids after a stroke.)

Great America (on a budget)

Taking a trip to Six Flags can really eat at your bank account.  Every year Quinn's school does a reading incentive program - read for six hours and earn a free ticket to Great America.  With regular ticket prices costing $62, parking $20, and kid prices at $42 - the cost to take your student to use his free ticket can really add up.
Luckily, being a teacher, I also usually earn a free ticket (for entering in the data required for my students to earn a ticket).  But still, to go I'd have to pay for parking and a ticket for Liam.  Also, this year, since I'm pregnant I knew I wouldn't be able to go on many of the rides with the boys - so we waited for a time when Mike could come with.

It could have cost us $124 just to get into the park! 

I searched online for "discount great america tickets" and found a promo code that allowed me to pay only $30 each for Liam and Mike - so it only cost us $80 to get into the park.

That's still a lot of money, but much better than over a hundred.

Anyone who has ever been to Six Flags knows that the most costly portion of the trip might not necessarily be getting into the park.  Once you're in you are bombarded with food, treats, souvenirs, drinks, games, and rides/attractions that cost extra.

The most important thing to remember when going to Great America is this - decide ahead of time that you will not be purchasing any of these items in the park.  Pack a lunch to leave in the car, snacks for a backpack, and water bottles.  This plan will only work if you explain ahead of time to the children (and the husband) that you will  not be purchasing any of the extra items in the park.

We took the boys this past Sunday and enjoyed beautiful weather.  The park got very crowded as the day went on, but we were able to hit some of our favorite rides in the first two hours with little waits.  I did break my "not buying anything" by surprising the boys with cotton candy (a very rare treat for my kids) and only because cotton candy from the zoo was promised to Liam after his angiogram, but every kiosk in the zoo was closed by the time we got there!

Liam's favorite ride was the "Scenic train" around the park and Quinn absolutely loved the Whizzer!  Both boys enjoyed the two water rides...

after Logger's run

Confidence

I'm not sure if it's typical.  But Quinn, at seven and a half, has the most confidence of any child I know. 

He'll try any water slide, climbing obstacle, and challenge put in front of him. 

If he doesn't know the answer and you tell him, his immediate response is, "Oh, yeah, I was about to say that."

While watching American Ninja Warrior he insists that he'd be able to do all of the obstacles - if only Mike would build them for him.

Now, with the Olympics on, he's decided that next summer he will join the local swim team so that he can go to the Olympics and win the gold.

I honestly do not remember ever having this amount of confidence as a child.  Maybe I did and forgot about it.

For now I'll try my best to find a good balance of encouraging his confidence and keeping the boasting under control. 

I just wish I could bottle this all up and serve it to him when he's an awkward teenager. 

Daily Recap Take Three

The good and the not so good of today seem to go hand in hand - so I'll just list them all together....

• I got a call early this morning from the neurology department at Lurie's Children hospital letting me know they had an appointment open up with Dr. Wainwright, who is the one I really wanted to see.  The appointment is for July 18th - which means we'd have to cut our vacation to the Dell's short and be sure to get the medical records from Loyola before that.  We decided to try to get the records and take the appoinment - Dr. Wainwright appears to be very qualified (he's got the most letters after his name) and does specialize in pediatric stroke.
• So, this means we'll be cutting our annual Dell's vacation with Mike's family short.  Right now, we're thinking I'll leave Tuesday night and Mike will stay with Quinn for the remainder of the vacation ('til Thursday).  I feel bad for not giving Liam the entire vacation - I mean really guilty - but I could not pass up the chance to get an appointment that quickly and with this doctor.  I'll try my best to make the trip to the doctor's exciting (we'll be taking the train) and then hopefully the next day I can think of something fun he'd like to do.
• It also meant I had to contact Loyola about getting the medical records quicker than promised.  That was easy, the secretary from the neurology department at Lurie's gave me some advice, I followed it, and the supervisor from the records department at Loyola was very helpful as was whoever I spoke to from their radiology department.  Yay! for nice people.  I will be picking them up tomorrow and then hand delivering them on the day of our appointment.
• Liam's speech therapist made me cry when she said, "it's just so frustrating because I can tell he wants to have conversations and he just can't yet."  I'm pretty sure I also heard her say, "We'll get there."  And I did hear her say, "He has a good solid base and can ask for basic needs."  To this my only response is that aphasia sucks. 
• Liam seemed more tired today and there were many times I thought "aphasia sucks". 
• The PT and OT that work with Liam agreed with me that we could go down to just one session a week and the speech therapist agreed to do four sessions each week instead of two.  (This situation has almost everything to do with insurance, but the PT and OT both were raving about how well Liam was doing.)
• Quinn is figuring out ways to play with Liam again - and listening to their rough-housing and screaming has been awesome.
• Liam usually gets a brief break between therapy sessions and it gives us time to hang out together and have a snack.

Daily Recap

The not so good:

• Watching Liam play by himself at the pool was hard.  He usually makes friends quickly and easily with whoever is around.  I could see him watching other kids, but he didn't have the confidence to go and play with anyone.
• We couldn't get into the neurologist from Lurie's until Sept 4th. 
• I'm still worried about missing therapies next week, but hopefully when we see them tomorrow they'll have lots of things for me to do with him.
• He continues to use made up words or the wrong words.  At the pool he told me he wanted pizza.  I asked if he was hungry and wanted a snack and he said, "Yes, I want a snack." 

The good:

• Our knock-knock joke from earlier.
• He was looking at a magnet from the arch and I asked where that was from.  He said, "St. Louis, Missouri."  I said, "yeah, that's the arch, you didn't like it at all going up."  He said, "yeah, but going down I LOVED it!"  So wow.  Talk about language.
• Quinn's getting better about talking to him and giving him time to answer and then giving him choices if he's unable to answer.  (This is taking some coaching from Mike and I.)
• I'm beginning to understand that the type of aphasia he does have could be a lot worse.  Just like the type of stroke he had was the best type you would want - this is also the "best" type of aphasia - at least from what I can gather from the Internet.  I need to remind myself to be thankful that he understands us.
• Liam got a homemade card from his best friend - it had a picture of him and his buddy on it and Liam quickly told me it was James. 
• We did get in with one of two neurologists that specialize in stroke from Lurie's Children Hospital (it's just not until Sept. 4th).
• Liam's old preschool teacher stopped by for a visit - he was so happy to see her and will be going to one of her summer camps in a few weeks.  She also sent him a blank puzzle in the mail (which arrived later today) - he agreed with me that we should write his name on the puzzle and then told me how to spell it.  After I drew it once, he gave me a different marker and said, "again" - so now he has a homemade puzzle with his name all over it.