Poop Catchers

I made a cloth diaper cover today with gussets. Extra fabric that is sewn around the leg openings affectionately called "poop catchers". They are added protection against blowouts. I found an online tutorial that showed step by step, with pics, how to sew them on to any diaper cover. I love the internet!

Anyhow, this was my first time making gussets and I think it turned out quite well!

What to do??

Since Gigi was just a toddler I have been playing around with the option of homeschooling her full time once she reached preschool and kindergarten age. I never once doubted my ability to teach her. In fact, I was always fairly confident that I could do a better job teaching her at home than the public schools could. This confidence was mainly due to the horror stories I have heard about our school system here (for example - the things that they expect a Kindergartner to know at the end of the year, my child already knew at the age of 2.) mixed with the fact that I know my child's learning style better than a teacher that has never met her, plus public school teachers have the challenge of dealing with 20+ students at once - all whom are probably on different levels.

I'm not trying to say anything negative about the teachers of the public school system - only about the system itself. Unfortunately the teachers are bound to the rules and "expectations" of the system leaving little to no time for individual needs of the students.

With homeschooling you can tailor everything to the needs and passion of your child. So, if Gigi is on a kindergarten level with math, but only a preschool level with reading - that's ok.

In most states, preschool is not thought of as the start of the school years. It's not a requirement, nor is it even offered - unless you want to pay a hefty price for a private prek. Basically, preschool is usually an overpriced, glorified daycare.

However, where we live preschool is offered to all 4 year olds, free of charge. It is a half day program that runs 3 hours aday, 5 days a week - following the public school schedule. It's called VPK - Voluntery Pre Kindergarten.

As her fourth birthday approached, we began discussing school. We came to the decision that Gigi would attend the local Montessori school that offered VPK, if she was accepted, and then I would homeschool for kindergarten and then have the public schools evaluate her for the 1st grade. We figured entering public school might be ok at first grade because we were told that there were things in place to help students as far as placement based on their individual abilities. However, there are no such programs or exceptions on the kindergarten level.

Well, since learning of Gigi's ADHD diagnosis, I have been having mixed feelings about everything. I feel this great tugging on my heart that tells me my child needs ME, not a school. On the other hand, I am afraid that if I don't get her into a school setting she will be ill prepared for school later. Without the ADHD diagnosis I had no reservations about keeping her home - now I am full of doubt.

Not doubt in myslef to actually teach her - but doubt that she will adapt later. Before I had no fear of her adjusting easily into the public school first grade after being homeschooled for prek and kindergarten. Now I am worried that without being in a school setting she will have trouble come first grade.

The problem is, I still feel that I could do a better job at meeting her needs and teaching her based on her individual abilities - I'm just worried that she will have problems adjusting later on - especially when compared with kids that will have gone through VPK and kindergarten in the school system.

I'm really not sure what to do at this point - however she IS now accepted and being held a spot for the Montessori school for VPK which begins August 25.

So, I have some time still to think and pray about it.

Learning to Sleep

Well, we think it may be time to begin teaching J to sleep on his own.

We figured we would do it just as we did with Gigi;

We put her in her crib and left, let her cry it out for one minute,went back in to check on her, left, let her cry it out for two minutes, left...and repeated until she was left alone for 5 minutes straight. Then we would check on her every 5 minutes until she fell asleep. Every five minutes we would go back into her room, rub her bed, whisper soft "Shhh" noises and then leave, never staying more than 30 seconds to one minute each time.

It was rough, but Gigi ended up falling asleep after 45 minutes and actually stayed asleep for the entire night!! We were so pleased!

It was a really transition for us. She obviously did not want to give in, she held on for as long as she could, but in the end, sleep won! She was 8 months old.

So, we were hoping for similar results with J, but ... no such luck.

We used the same method, but it took J nearly two hours to give in to sleep. And unfortunately, he stayed asleep for about 45 minutes.

Something tells me he's just not ready.

G Whiz

Today we went out for the day to a local museum called "GWhiz". It's a children's hands on science museum. At first glance, it is surprisingly small for a museum, really just one large room. However once we stopped and looked at each item, we realized there really is lots to do there. Plus, some of things actually took quite a bit of time to complete, and others we had to walk away from so as not to become too frustrated. :)

Gigi loved the fact that she was actually able to touch everything. She even played with dinosaurs and took pictures of them to make her own mini movie.

There were lots of fun things to play with there. Even J was able to get in on some of the action!

Hubby had fun with blocks too!

All in all it was a pretty nice day! Fun and educational!! My favorite mix :)

Update on Gigi

So, we have been in contact with Gigi's pediatrician for the last couple weeks. She has been reviewing Gigi's file and she has had consultations with a couple of child psychologists to discuss Gigi's behavior issues.

Well, Gigi now has a confirmed diagnosis of ADHD. She actually scored very high for this, so unfortunately it is not a mild case.

As far as the "gifted" aspect that the pediatrician suspected was part of the "problem", she still believes that Gigi is gifted, but unfortunately they can not do any testing to confirm this on paper for another 2 years. In the meantime, we were asked to address her issues as though we KNOW she is gifted - mostly because you need to approach discipline differently with gifted children and the pediatrician is fairly certain that this is the case with Gigi.

Good news is, it has been determined that Gigi does NOT have ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) which the pediatrician initially thought might be a factor. She said that after further research and discussions with the child psychologists, they determined this was NOT something Gigi has.

Yea, she does have meltdowns. tantrums, frequently tells us "no", throws things when she doesn't get her way, will even swat at us when we try to hold her etc. However, children with ODD are not simply defiant - they are downright MEAN. They are cruel and abusive toward people and animals and they are deliberately destructive. This is NOT the case with Gigi, she is really a sweetie. ODD is EXTREME behavior and unfortunately for parents who have children with a confirmed diagnosis, it is very difficult to treat. Apparently there is a HUGE difference between children who don't want to do what they are told, talk back to their parents, slam doors, scream, throw things, get angry etc and a child with ODD.

I'm VERY glad that Gigi does not have ODD.

Well, now we know what we are dealing with - ADHD and most likely gifted.

Now we need to develop a plan to combat this and arm our child to learn to successfully handle it on her own.

Alone with Mima

While hubby, my mother in law and I accompanied Gigi to her first dance recital, we thought it would be best for everyone if J stayed out of the theater.

Since my mom had already seen the performance the day before, which had been a full dress rehearsal, she volunteered to watch J for the day.

It was the first time I had ever left him! :(

When we picked him up, mom reported back to me everything they had done together while we were gone.

They played games like peek-a-boo.

He ate some food

and his toes, of course!

And even took a couple of naps.

I don't think he mind being away from mama as much as mama minded being away from him! :)

Recital

So, she was all dressed up, hair and make up applied. Now all we had to do was wait.

I volunteered as a "backstage mom" so that I could be with Gigi. No other parents were allowed backstage. I was just not comfortable with that idea, so I volunteered to help. It really was not such a big deal. There was another mom with me and we only had to watch the 6 girls from our class.

The waiting seemed eternal for me, so I can't imagine how it felt for a four year old! Finally it was our turn! As I lead our class to the big stage and lined them up, I kept repeating my last words of advice to Gigi, praying she would actually follow some of what I was saying.

"Remember to watch Miss Rhonda, she will be standing on the side showing you what to do. Remember your spot is number 9, stay on your spot. Remember to wave good bye as you walk of stage..." Etc, etc.

Given Gigi's history with dance class, my stomach was doing flip-flops. I fear that my child would be the one to just run around in circles on the stage - or just make up her own dance completely - or just standing still not doing anything at all. All common performances of a 4 year old.

Boy, did I underestimate my girl! I was so impressed. She looked so beautiful! Now, she wasn't perfect, but for a 4 year old who spent most of the dance year getting yelled at and being put on the opposite side of the room away from the other kids because she could not listen, she did FANTASTIC!!

I was so proud of her!!

We won't have the video until late August to mid September, so I'll try to see if I can get it uploaded for you then!

My Pretty Ballerina

Today was my big girls dance recital. This day has been 11 months in the making. Eleven months, and it all leads up to 2 minutes on stage. There was a lot of prep work for this day. I had to sew the straps of her costume and make sure everything fit correctly, then I had to do her hair and my mom did her makeup. It was tough getting all the required make up on her. It's WAY more make up than any 4 year old should ever have to wear, but honestly, on stage it doesn't seem like she's wearing much at all. Gigi was pretty thrilled at the lipstick she was able to wear at least.

So, here is my baby all dressed up, ready to go dance her little heart out!

Yummy Biscuit!

Today I gave J his first taste of a biter biscuit. It was messy, to say the least, but he thoroughly enjoyed it, I believe!

He even figured out a way to take it "to go"!

And just for fun, here are some pics of Gigi eating a biter biscuit at just about the same age. Well, about a month or so older. Close enough.

Look at all that hair she had!!

My poor bald boy! :)

Latest Vision Update

Today Gigi had a follow up visit with her eye doctor.

I am pleased to annouce her vision is now 20/20!!!!

Woohoo!!!

I'm very happy! I was hoping we would be told that we were done with patching and glasses, but no such luck. The eye doctor does not wante her to regress, so instead we are going to wean off the patch. Instead of 3 hours a day, she will now need to patch for 2 hours a day.

We go back for another visit in September. If her vision is still stable, we will most likely stop patching completly.

So good to hear good news!! :)

From Standing to Cruising

Little man has now begun to slowly cruise across furniture. He only does it on the coffee table and the couch though. He can cruise along the entire length of the couch and around the entire table and has even mastered switching from table to ouch and back again!

I can believe all the progress he is making in such a short period of time!

ADHD Diet

So, our pediatrician recommended that we try this ADHD diet for Gigi at her four year well visit. She did warn that it would be difficult and that it doesn't always make a difference in all children and that even if we saw some improvement, it would not be enough to combat this completely.

That being said, this is what the "diet" instructs;

What NOT to eat for two weeks:

No dairy products - especially cow's milk. Drink lots of water. Instead try almond milk or rice milk.

No yellow foods - especially corn or squash.

No junk foods - if it comes in a cellophane wrapper, don't eat it.

No fruit juices.

Cut sugar intake by 90% or more.

Cut chocolate by 90% or more.

NO nutrasweet, none period.

No processed meat and NO MSG.

Cut fried food by 90% or more.

Avoid food colorings whenever possible.

In addition, avoid:

Breads and pastas made from processed white flour

Processed white rice

Potatoes

Desserts, ice cream, candy, cookies, doughnuts etc.

Powedered or refined sugar

Soda, sports drinks, tea, coffee

Fast Foods

Artificial colors, flavors, preservatives

Artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose)

So, the pediatrician warnd us it woul be difficult - especially considering Gigi is only allowed to drink milk, juice or water and now two of those options are gone. The pediatrician also said not to make ourselves crazy over it, but try as best we can to follow this.

Well, I am glad that we only have to strictly follow for two weeks, because I am running out of ideas for meals!

For breakfast it's eggs with whole wheat toast or plain oatmeal or cream of wheat.

For lunch it's tuna on whole wheat or peanut butter with banana on whole wheat, which Gigi has really been enjoying.

There's Flaxseed sprinkled on top

For dinner - honestly, dinner hasn't changed much; Brown rice, stamed veggies and grilled chicken or whole wheat pasta with homemade meat sauce.

This really should be the way we all eat ALL the time. It's really not that bad, except she really misses her milk. She like the organice brown rice milk, but that stuff is expensive!! Hopefully when we add the dairy back in it won't affect her.

We will just have to wait and see!