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Decision day and dentist visit

Posted on September 18, 2008 8:36 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday was a day that I was hoping we could skip over. It was the afternoon that I had a dentist appointment for NHL and had made the much debated MMR vaccine appointment for JSL. I cried many nights over this. I did not want to do the vaccine just yet, but felt so much pressure from so many different sources. I basically felt I was damned if I did and damned if I did not do it right now. In the end, I got sucked into doing it now. With NHL in school and the rise in Measles all over I went for it. Now we must wait to see how he does. The doctor told me to give him ibuprofen 2 hours before, acetaminophen 1 hour before and rotate them every three hours after the immunization was given for two days.

The little guy conked out after the vaccine like I have never seen before. I am sure the trauma combined with no afternoon nap was the reason behind that. He seems to be doing really well. My guard is still up though. The reaction I had to the MMR was a week later. All of the information from the CDC even states that most reactions that happen will occur 7-12 days after the administration of the shot. So we are watching and waiting to see how things go.

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Before going to the nurse appointment for the vaccine, we went to NHL’s dentist visit. He really loves Dr. N and so do we! They called us in a few minutes early. Then a surprise was thrown our way. Now that NHL is five they like to do x-rays to check for adult teeth formation and cavities of existing teeth. Problem, the machine scared NHL and I had no warning to talk with him about it before this. That is my only beef with this office. If you know something new is coming next time at least tell the parents so they can get their child ready. NHL was close to allowing it, but we opted not to fight it this time around. He claims that next time he will allow it.

Everything after this went extremely well. When he got into the room he sat down in the chair and was asked what toothpaste flavor he wanted. Check out the choices:

The first time I saw this list I was shocked. I know that when I was little and went to the pediatric dentist we had possibly two choices – bubble gum or cherry (I believe). Now they have seven choices or may opt for no flavor at all. NHL selected grape this time around, but last visit he had cookie dough (that’s my boy).

NHL was very good at waiting for the hygenist to come into the room to clean his teeth. He watched the cartoons that were on the televisions right above his chair and played with a toy.

When the hygentist came in NHL did a fabulous job. He stayed still, kept his hands down, and was great at letting her clean his teeth. He was not a huge fan of the tarter removal, but who is really? When she was done cleaning his teeth I noticed that she got a small cup of slimy looking gel. She had a toothbrush and put it on NHL’s teeth. I assumed what it was, but had never seen it before. I was correct, it was the fluoride treatment. My how it has changed since my youth. I remember hating that part of the visit because of having the air in my mouth for 15-20 minutes and being bored with my mouth partially open. The hygenist told me that this new treatment is amazing, they only brush it on for a minute and the kids have to wait 30 minutes before eating/drinking and it is done. She checked and I was right, it was NHL’s first time and he had no clue it was done!

The dentist came in and confirmed that NHL has one six year molar almost completely in and the one above it has cut as well. She said that could certainly be why his hands are in his mouth more, but if that is the only sign we should not complain. Of course she said his teeth look great, but she is not 100% sure there are no cavitites since he did not allow x-rays. That was my chance to mention something about a warning before coming in with something new, but I was a little distracted. JSL was fussing and my mind was too worried about going across the street to our family practice for the MMR.

Hopefully if all goes well NHL will have his x-rays done at the end of March for his next visit.

Categories:
decisions doctor jsl milestone nhl photos

Toddling Times

Posted on September 16, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Do you remember where your children were the first time they walked multiple steps on their own? JSL started really toddling on his own in the last two weeks. It made me think back to when NHL took his first steps. We waited so long for that day to come that I recall where we were, what was going on, and exactly what the little guy was wearing.

We were visiting my brother and sister-in-law. NHL had just started physical therapy after qualifying through Early Intervention. He was diagnosed as having low muscle tone and was hyper flexible. In other words he could touch his nose to the floor while sitting and struggled just to have enough balance to stand, no less walk on his own.

We had no clue at the time that this was going on. He was our first born and we thought he was so close to walking for months. He could toddle holding simply a finger, but without it could not.

Just a few days after starting PT we went away for a weekend. All of the adults were talking when we suddenly noticed a little boy walk by us. We did many double takes and then hooted and hollered since NHL was indeed walking on his own. JL quickly went to get the camera to capture these first steps on his own. Before we knew it he went back down the hall on his own. Later that afternoon we went to the Fisher Price outlet store. My little guy walked in the store on his own, chanting Elmo when he saw all of the toys he wanted to go to.

Here are NHL’s first of many solo steps and relaxing on the couch in his Mickey Mouse PJ’s. These were taken July 6, 2005 when NHL was almost 23 months old.

We always joked that JSL would walk for the first time at Uncle I and Aunt M’s house. That was not to be in July when we visited. JSL did things on his own schedule and really started to perfect things this past week. By the end of the weekend visiting for Cousin S’s first birthday he had really picked up speed.

While gathering clothing from NHL to get ready for JSL I found a lot of summer items. Included in this were the Mickey Mouse PJ’s that NHL was wearing when he walked. I thought it was only fitting to take these with us this weekend to get some photos of JSL. These photos were taken September 14, 2008 as JSL turned 16 months old.

Now the adventure really begins as JSL is starting to chase after his big brother. . . . ah the memories!

Categories:
brothers family jsl looking back milestone nhl photos road trip

Got sneakers?

Posted on September 9, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

Do you have an older sibling? I am the oldest in my family. I have to admit, I never really paid attention to how my little brother reacted to me when we were really young. As a mommy, I have been watching my little guy try to follow his big brother around. If NHL does something, JSL wants to do it.

A week before Labor Day the boys were outside. I asked JL to bring up NHL’s old push to ride Fisher Price bike to see if the little guy would like it. For some reason we could not get the push handle back on the bike. I told JL just to take it outside to see what JSL would do.

Sure enough he loved it. He was "walking" his bike all over the place. He did not stop moving for most of the time he was outside. He had a blast chasing after his big brother and daddy. There was a little problem, JSL had no real shoes at the time. At that point he was not really walking on his own, so he only had the soft bottom shoes. His froggy shoes were in rough shape anyway, so we just let him use those.

Two days later we went to the doctor for JSL’s 15 month visit. I asked the doctor if we should get him shoes since he was basically ready to walk. She said it was probably a good plan for when he’s outside, but for indoors it did not really matter. That night we packed up the boys and went to get some shoes. We bought NHL a pair of black tie shoes for the Jewish holidays and to have something other than sneakers. And below are JSL’s sneakers.

Labor Day weekend JSL finally started to walk around on his own. Since that time he has gotten better at balancing and can go for much longer distances, bend to get things, and turn around while walking. The problem has been he does not like to walk in his shoes. He was so used to walking with naked toes that the clunky nature of sneakers throws him off.

This weekend we took the sneakers back out again. This time we held his hand and he tolerated the shoes. Last night he was started to get a kick out of wearing them and walking around stores and things with an adult hand.

Today I figured out how to get him to nap in the afternoon. We arrived at school about a half hour before NHL was getting out. I parked the car down a side street and JSL and I walked to school. Thanks to the sidewalks we went all over the place. We walked and walked and walked. The smile on his face as he looked up to me while holding my hand was priceless. I promise, I will get a photo of that soon. When we got back home he was so exhausted he slept for almost two hours!

Categories:
brothers jsl milestone photos play time

My kindergarten kid

Posted on September 4, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

It is official, I am the mom of a kid in kindergarten. I thought I would feel different, but I do not. Eventually it will probably hit me, but for now it just seems like any other day. The best part, my kindergarten kid is happy. He likes school and is excited to go back. What a huge difference a year of maturity from the start of PreK at a different school makes. No less the addition of an amazing teacher who cares.

This morning NHL woke up and was ready to go. He hopped out of bed, got dressed, ate breakfast and grabbed his backpack. When we went outside we took a few quick photos before heading out to take him to school.

He was all smiles and so happy to be on his way to school.

This photo makes me realize that my little boy is growing up. Before my eyes he is changing and turning into a big boy. When did this happen?

When we arrived at school the kindergarten kids are assigned to tables in the cafeteria to wait for their teachers to come and get them at about 8:00. When his teacher came into the room NHL’s face lit up. He was eager to get on the line going to his class with the rest of the kids.

Outside the classroom the kids arrived to see their names on a display with the theme for the start of the year. "I Think I Can" is being used to inspire the kids to gain confidence and see that they can do things, especially with some practice.

NHL quickly went into his room, grabbed his name for the attendance chart, put his backpack in his cubby, and took his place on the rug.

Daddy was quite impressed with the beautiful new classroom. It is really large and has amazing items in it. Here are a few photos that he took.

Then the teacher nicely said goodbye to the parents that were in the back and reminded us of where to pick up the kids at the end of the day.

No tears were shed by anyone. . . except one little 15 month old. JSL was quite upset that his big brother (his entertainment system) was not coming home with us. He chanted for him the entire way home. Nap time was off since he was lonely. Mommy never shed a tear. I think this was anti-climatic after the things that happened at the start of last year. That was rough and hard to handle. I just wish I had stopped the craziness earlier and listened to my child. *sigh* I guess you live and learn.

At 2:30 when NHL came out of school he said he had a great day and was excited to go back tomorrow. Of course he was also quite anxious to go home since he needed to use the bathroom. He apparently did not have to go all day and held it in from 7:30 to 2:30 . . . he has the making of a teacher bladder like mommy (pre-kids) already!

We hope that this is just the beginning of many wonderful days ahead this year.

Categories:
milestone nhl school

Go, Go, Go!!!

Posted on September 3, 2008 12:05 am by TheAngelForever

What do you do when you have a stubborn toddler that refuses to do what you want when it comes to walking?

For weeks now JSL has been SO ready to walk, but he refused to do it. If you even said the "w" word he would immediately drop to a crawl, give a laugh and bolt away from you. Clearly he was showing us that he would do things on his own timeline, not ours!

Note to self: If this is his true colors coming out, then the teen years are going to be mighty fun!

Over the last week we have noticed that when JSL does not think we are watching he will cruise, let go and take 6+ steps at a time. Over the weekend this increased. Now he is trying to pick things up, turn and stand up in the middle of the floor.

When I went to pick JSL up at my grandmother’s today he came out her apartment door and charged at me on two feet down the hall. It was so sweet to see how excited he got.

So how did we FINALLY get the breakthough? We were quite creative. Rather than asking JSL to "walk" to us we said to come here or used his favorite new demand to us "GO!" We told him to "go, go, go" and he went!

JL was able to get some video of the little guy charging around and chanting "go go go" tonight.

It has been so much fun to watch JSL reach this huge milestone. He is quickly getting more balance, but his need for speed often causes him to fall and restart his adventure.

Categories:
jsl milestone video

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