Kindergarten Update

We have survived two weeks of Kindergarten!! Daniel is doing extremely well. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't think he'd adjust all that well, but he has really surprised me and proved me wrong!!

He did get into a spot of trouble on day 3 last week, but nothing major and the teacher wrote me a nice note, to which I sent a nice reply and everything has been great since. This week Daniel did extremely well, even getting a note on his paper stating that he chose the most difficult items to draw and that his teacher was impressed with his work!! I was sooo proud.

We created a "Me Bag" beginning last Monday night and turned it in to class today. Daniel shared his bag today in school and came home animated and it sounds like he really enjoyed telling his class about the items in his bag. He chose a photo of our house, a hunting hat, a diving stick, a train, and Uno cards. They represented his favorite place, doing something with daddy, favorite sport, favorite toy and game time after dinner each night, in that order. He colored his bag and drew a picture of me, Troy and himself.

I also gots lots of papers home this week and they were all perfect. They are working on simple math concepts like over/under, above/below. more/less. We've been working on these skills for so long that it's old hat to Daniel, but he still followed the directions on all the papers and they looked great!!

Here are some photos from week 2 of Kindergarten!!

First Day of Kindergarten (and an Earthquake!)

Boy, we'll never forget Daniel's first day of school!

EVER!!

We had a 5.9 magnitude earthquake, the epicenter of which was about 50 miles from our home and only 20 from my work office. Around 1:50 pm our office started shaking terribly and I was so scared. We're on the 3rd floor of a building and the floor felt unglued. Thankfully it stopped and I was able to get ahold of Troy and he was able to call Daniel's school. The kids were all fine, but this momma wasn't!!

To backtrack, this morning started out like any other. Daniel knew it was the big day and he still begged for 2 more minutes of sleep complete with covering himself back up over his head!! Once out of bed we served him scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with jelly. Then we got dressed, brushed teeth, washed face and headed out to the big K!!

We arrived at school and he headed right in leaving us in the dust, until we got to where the Kindergartner's meet in the morning. Then he ever so gently attached himself to my side. His teacher, who I really like, greeted him by name, but he wasn't having any of it. Once I got him unglued from me and we showed him which 2 tables were his classes, he went and sat down about 10 seats away from everyone else and put his head down. Broke my heart!! Never fear though, I walked over and re-sat him with some new friends. When we left he was taking his jacket off and loking around.

When we picked him up, he was all smiles and talked up a storm. He made new friends, liked his teacher and he didn't have an accident. Since we're still dealing with his medical condition, this is and continues to be my biggest worry for him. I went in ahead of time and had a conference with his teacher and the school nurse to explain his condition, set his potty schedule up and give them the letter from the urologist using big terms and was very impressive! The teacher followed the instructions to a "T" and Daniel did great!!

If you are wondering, Daniel has to void on a timed schedule which we are slowly trying to draw out. Normal bladders can hold urine for about 4 hours, but Daniel can only hold about an hour and a half. This is because his bladder was so stretched from the obstruction he had for so long and his reflux issue (both have been corrected, but the damage was already done). We still don't know the depth of feeling he has as far as the urge to go goes, and it's something we are still trying to ascertain through medical testing and simply Daniel getting older and being able to tell us. Because his bladder is so large, he doesn't get the "bladder-brain" signal until it's too late and he leaks urine. However, the hour and half schedule works for him and we are "training" his bladder to hold it that long without leaks. Fortunately #2's in the potty are no problem. So, as long as you keep him on schedule, he does great. We'll work up to 4 hours eventually but it could take a few years. Since we were told he would need a permanent cathedar at one point, we think his progress is great!!!

Anywho, he wrote his name for his teacher today and drew a picture of her. Troy picked Daniel up and he said Daniel's teacher said he was "excellent" and that she "really enjoyed him"!! Daniel talked non-stop about his day and his new friends. He said he earned 6 punches on his card for good behavior and earned extra recess time!! When I asked what he got the punches for he rolled his eyes and said "For good listening mom", in a "duh" kind of tone. Seriously! Apparently I need a punch card because he seems to have selective hearing around here!!

Whew!! I feel so much better now about our decision to send him on to Kindergarten! I know we may face some difficulties, but today went really well - minus the earthquake of course!!! Without further ado - Daniel his first day of Kindergarten!!!

My Little Fish, Home Improvements & Kindergarten

I can't believe July is over! Daniel finished his swim lessons and passed his jellyfish class. He couldn't pass last year because he wouldn't swim on his back. This year the instructor used him to teach the other children (who were mostly older!!) how to swim on their backs. Daniel was also the only one to propel himself down in 4-5 feet of water to pick up toys from the bottom. He's really gained in strength this year and the instructor said she would like to see him next year on the swim team. He'll fall into the youngest category and she said they needed "strong swimmers" like him in that category!!

A couple of weekends ago we did some minor home improvements that had major impact on my housekeeping skills! First we pulled up Daniel's carpet and laid wood laminate in his room. He LOVES it. It's the same as our room and the morning he woke up he ran to us saying "Thank you for making my floor like yours!" Who knew it would mean that much to him!

Troy also finally cut me a laundry chute after I did much begging!! Our laundry is in our basement and we have this perfect little half closet in our hallway that Troy cut a nice circle in and built up the chute. It drops right down in the basement into a nice laundry basket and since then all laundry is out of our main living level. We were woried that Daniel would throw toys (or himself) down the chute, but instead as I was sorting laundry I found fishing items and realized it was my husband who had "accidentally" dropped a few things down! It hasn't happened since!! I don't have any pictures of the final product, but Troy faced the front and put a nice top on it. This was when it first went through the floor - we couldn't resist trying it out!

In Kindergarten news, we didn't get the school we were hoping for due to student/teacher ratio and we knew up front this was a high possibility in our area. We're allowed to call back August 8th and see if there are any changes, but for now we're preparing for the other school. I have to go in soon to make appointments to talk to the school nurse about Daniel's medical condition and I need to speak to the principal about his teacher and about a certain little boy who is also attending Kindergarten this year and who you may remember from this post a long time ago. I'm afraid if they get put in the same class, similar things may happen to Daniel and it isn't going to fly. As for his teacher - I don't want him to have the teacher he did his assessment with. I have my reasons! I know I'm picky, but I can't help it!!

Daniel's doing great at his summer camp. He's been roller skating, bowling, to Lowe's, to more parks than I can name and he's having a blast. He gets karate lessons as part of his day and while I don't think he's thrilled with them, I do think he's gaining a lot from them. He's learning to pay more attention and when he and his dad wrestle, I've seen Troy look at him in surprise!! He seems stronger, more sure of himself and he likes the interaction with all the boys. He's making friends, which he wasn't really doing (except for a few) at his previous daycare, and he's talking to his counselors like he actually likes them! He even told me he "loved camp" the other morning when I sang him the "Good Morning" song!!

All in all things are well in the Williams household!