Dear Kira,
Sock puppets are great, and sock puppet shows are fun. I don't mind you using your big brothers' socks, they are so big they make great puppets, but from now on please find your "puppets" from the clean laundry pile.
Thank you.
I love you,
Mommy
sharing stories of life with 2 parents, 6 children, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 3 goats, countless chickens, turkeys, an apple orchard and a market garden
Friday, February 02, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
An update
Things have been hectic around here. I've had lots of appointments lately and I haven't had time to sit down and nurse Hanna in front of the computer until now.
We were offline for a while because Matt wanted me to install a wireless router so that he can have access to the internet on his laptop too. Well with a house full of sick kids and hockey, I had to install and configure it all in small steps. It took many days, but finally we are online.
We have all been fighting off a cold virus. On Friday, Hanna started with it, she had an awful post-nasal drip and gaggy cough. Saturday, Kira spiked a high fever and bad cough. On Sunday, I tried to decide whether she needed to be seen by a doctor or not. On Monday morning, I called our family doctor, but they were all booked up. By Monday afternoon, she had a low fever, and by the evening she was coughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath. We rushed to the E.R. and after 5 1/2 hours there, the pediatrician said it was RSV, but that she was doing well enough to be cared for at home.
She is such a doll. Despite how lousy she must have felt, she tried really hard to be social with the nurses and doctors. When the staff pediatrician finally came to see her, he leaned over her, cupped her head in his hands and "talked" to her. He has a wonderful way with babies. She responded by gurgling and cooing and flashing her dimpled smile at him.
She is dealing with it well, especially for one so young.
Campbell and Damon were really excited about the Primary Division from school going on a series of skating trips. They got to show off their prowess on the ice. Damon really enjoyed giving lessons to the other kids.
On Tuesday night, Patrick's team won their 4th game this year. That doesn't sound great to most people, but it's all relative. They won 1 last year, so 4 seems like winning the Stanley Cup to these kids. The final score was 4-1. Patrick really contributed to the win, he played amazingly on defense and got 2 assists!
In other news, Damon has been assessed for dyslexia. I had a pretty good idea going into it that he was dyslexic, so the results were not much of a surprise to me. Damon had been struggling with reading, despite being obviously bright. When I stumbled across some websites (like this one) about dyslexia, I was struck by how closely he fit the profile of a dyslexic. So many of the stories I read were just like Damon's, it was as if it was scripted. Dyslexia, while it hinders reading, is also an amazing gift. Many of the worlds great thinkers were also dyslexic, and this is no coincidence, a fact that thrills Damon. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading difficulty and it is estimated that 1 in 6 people deal with some degree of dyslexia. Damon said something very prophetic during his testing, before he began a spelling test, he told the tester, "I have trouble reading because I never know what the vowels are going to say." (That explains why many of his spelling tests at school came back with NO vowels, but the consonants were perfect. For example, 'chalkboard' was spelled 'chlkbrd', 'ruler' was 'rlr'.) Damon was measured in three areas, dysphonetic, dyseidetic and dysgraphic. His results indicated that he is mildly dysgraphic, moderately dyseidetic and markedly dysphonetic. This is good news as this is the type that responds most quickly to the type of program that he is now doing at the dyslexia centre. Damon is also receiving extra help at the school, unfortunately it is not the type of program that is recommended to remedy dyslexia, which is upsetting considering how many dyslexic children, who are less fortunate than Damon, could be helped to succeed. (stepping down from the soapbox for now)
We were offline for a while because Matt wanted me to install a wireless router so that he can have access to the internet on his laptop too. Well with a house full of sick kids and hockey, I had to install and configure it all in small steps. It took many days, but finally we are online.
We have all been fighting off a cold virus. On Friday, Hanna started with it, she had an awful post-nasal drip and gaggy cough. Saturday, Kira spiked a high fever and bad cough. On Sunday, I tried to decide whether she needed to be seen by a doctor or not. On Monday morning, I called our family doctor, but they were all booked up. By Monday afternoon, she had a low fever, and by the evening she was coughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath. We rushed to the E.R. and after 5 1/2 hours there, the pediatrician said it was RSV, but that she was doing well enough to be cared for at home.
She is such a doll. Despite how lousy she must have felt, she tried really hard to be social with the nurses and doctors. When the staff pediatrician finally came to see her, he leaned over her, cupped her head in his hands and "talked" to her. He has a wonderful way with babies. She responded by gurgling and cooing and flashing her dimpled smile at him.
She is dealing with it well, especially for one so young.
Campbell and Damon were really excited about the Primary Division from school going on a series of skating trips. They got to show off their prowess on the ice. Damon really enjoyed giving lessons to the other kids.
On Tuesday night, Patrick's team won their 4th game this year. That doesn't sound great to most people, but it's all relative. They won 1 last year, so 4 seems like winning the Stanley Cup to these kids. The final score was 4-1. Patrick really contributed to the win, he played amazingly on defense and got 2 assists!
In other news, Damon has been assessed for dyslexia. I had a pretty good idea going into it that he was dyslexic, so the results were not much of a surprise to me. Damon had been struggling with reading, despite being obviously bright. When I stumbled across some websites (like this one) about dyslexia, I was struck by how closely he fit the profile of a dyslexic. So many of the stories I read were just like Damon's, it was as if it was scripted. Dyslexia, while it hinders reading, is also an amazing gift. Many of the worlds great thinkers were also dyslexic, and this is no coincidence, a fact that thrills Damon. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading difficulty and it is estimated that 1 in 6 people deal with some degree of dyslexia. Damon said something very prophetic during his testing, before he began a spelling test, he told the tester, "I have trouble reading because I never know what the vowels are going to say." (That explains why many of his spelling tests at school came back with NO vowels, but the consonants were perfect. For example, 'chalkboard' was spelled 'chlkbrd', 'ruler' was 'rlr'.) Damon was measured in three areas, dysphonetic, dyseidetic and dysgraphic. His results indicated that he is mildly dysgraphic, moderately dyseidetic and markedly dysphonetic. This is good news as this is the type that responds most quickly to the type of program that he is now doing at the dyslexia centre. Damon is also receiving extra help at the school, unfortunately it is not the type of program that is recommended to remedy dyslexia, which is upsetting considering how many dyslexic children, who are less fortunate than Damon, could be helped to succeed. (stepping down from the soapbox for now)
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