Edaville

To kick off the holiday season, our friends Jess, Chris, Layla, Quincy and Brady asked us to go to Edaville.  We decided to get there while it was still light out, which was nice because it wasn't that crowded.  We made our way to the kiddie rides where we proceeded to ride the Caterpillar.  Over. And over.  And over.  It was, by far, Connor's favorite ride, and all it did was go around in a circle 6 or 7 times.  After being outside for a while, we went inside to warm up.  The kiddos played in the ball pit for quite a while, then moved to the train sets.  Connor, of course, loves trains, and would have stayed there all night if I let him.  But we had bigger and better trains to see and ride, so off we went.  Before getting a ride on the big train, we hit up the carousel with Layla first. 

The big train ride was lots of fun.  Connor has been a bit obsessed with cabooses lately (no - not that kind of caboose) so we made the long walk to the end of the train to ride the Caboose.  It was actually quite nice!  Since few others wanted to make the journey, the car only had two other small groups of people on it, and we were a bit separated so we had the whole back of the Caboose to ourselves.  The kids ate popcorn and looked at all the lights and had a marvelous time.  This was the first time Connor had actually eaten popcorn, so I think that was more a thrill than the lights, but he still had fun. 

In other news, Connor has been on an injury kick lately.  First, on Wednesday, he managed to dislocate his elbow trying to get out of holding my hand.  Luckily, the doctor easily put it back in place so we didn't have to spend the day before Thanksgiving in the ER.  Then, on Saturday, he jumped off his train table and hit his head on a toy on the floor, splitting his eyebrow.  After a call to Nurse Grammy, we decided he didn't need stitches and put a steri-strip on it.  It seems to be holding - must be because Mommy didn't cut it very small and it goes up to his hairline.  Oh well, it's secure and doing the job.  On Sunday, Connor was dancing to the music in the grocery store, and managed to hit his face on the cup holder, leaving a small bruise under his eye.  The poor kid is now being referred to as "Rocky".  I know this is typical for a boy, but does it ALL have to happen within days of each other? 

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - ours was VERY nice.  Mimi and Papa came down and we had a nice, quiet dinner.  Mimi gets the award for "longest time playing trains with a toddler".  She's a trooper!  Connor had a blast and despite getting a MUCH hated haircut, was still sad when Mimi and Papa left;  he loves them and always has fun when they're around.

Preschool

Connor was evaluated for preschool a few weeks ago by the speech therapist at the Jones School in Stoughton.  Not surprising, he qualified for speech services.  Today we had his initial Team meeting where we talked about the speech services he would get - twice a week for thirty minutes each.  Not a ton of time, but better than nothing.  The problem is transportation from his daycare to the Stoughton school.  I'm not sure it's going to work out since I certainly can't get out of work twice (or even once) a week to drive him to speech and back.  Just to get him there is 30-45 minutes (between leaving work, picking him up and driving him there).  Not to mention I'd have to wait for the session to be over (it doesn't make a lick of sense to leave and return), so now we're talking another hour between waiting and driving back.  To leave work for almost two hours once or twice a week is not an option.  The speech therapist is still going to write up an IEP and mail it to me, but I'm not sure it's going to be the right choice for us.  As much as I'd like Connor in a preschool speech program (in addition to his twice weekly visits to Braintree Rehab), logistically I don't see it happening.  Plus, I already asked Brockton if he could go to speech at the Gilmore Early Childhood Center, but they are jam packed with Brockton kids needing services and can't accept Connor.  So... if anyone knows of any options, just let me know!  Thanks for checking in. 

How Do You Know When a Toddler is Sick?



...When he doesn't move from the couch.

Poor Connor was feeling a bit under the weather on Friday and Saturday.  Mom got a call from daycare Friday afternoon letting her know that Connor had gotten sick during his nap.  Miss Janet did her best to clean him up, but he was not a sweet-smelling kid when I went to get him.   An immediate bath when we got home helped, but even after 3 baths and a swim lesson, he still smells faintly of ... well, you know. 



 Connor spent the Friday night vegged on the couch with Pedialyte, saltines and Team Umizoomi.  He didn't move from his spot the entire night.  He took a few naps before crashing for the night around 9, then slept until 10 Saturday morning.  He started to perk up a bit around noontime, but we took it easy just the same.  By Sunday he seemed MUCH better and we did make it to his swim lesson.  We hope the bug is long gone and that no one else gets sick.  And, I'd like this to be IT for any and all illnesses all year.  What?  A Mom can hope, can't she?

 







Fright Night

Connor began his Halloween day with swim lessons at the Y. We try to do lessons during the colder months so he doesn't forget how much he loves the water. I signed him up for the "Pike" class hoping he'd be able to do it on his own (Mommies don't go in with the kids in this class). He wanted to go in the water, but didn't like Mommy 10 feet away. So we had a little talk and he kept pointing to Emily, our instructor from previous lessons. He kept saying "that one! that one!". So I got Emily's attention and she asked us if we wanted to join her class. Luckily, I anticipated such things happening and wore my suit. Connor was as happy as a clam in his old class, so that's where we'll stay. He had more trouble getting out of the pool after the class, so it's pretty clear which class he'll be in for a while.

After grocery shopping, Mom made a Halloween-y lunch of Mummies (pigs in a blanket) and Mummy fingers (sweet potato fries). Connor actually ate both, so Mommy felt a little better about him loading up on Candy later on.

Trick-or-treat time brought a few tears as Connor was annoyed by the circles on his Mickey shorts and his "yellow" shoes (his alternate pair of sneakers covered with yellow felt). So a quick change into black pants and his old sneakers seemed to solve the problem. He even kept his Mickey ears and hat on during trick-or-treating. With one hand being held by Mommy or Daddy, and the other hand holding a lollipop, there were no free hands to take off the Mickey ears.

He got many compliments as we hit the neighborhood houses. He definitely got the idea of trick-or-treating and was pretty tickled to be able to get so much candy. So far his favorites are the lollipops!

Without a nap and so much walking, Connor actually went to sleep in record time (we've had a bit of an issue with bedtime lately, so Mom was super happy to have a break from the battle). We hope everyone else had a fun Halloween!

I wasn't able to get the best of pictures. Everytime I'd take out the camera Connor would turn and yell "NO!". Oh well.