The Ringmans: August 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Day 2

Day 2 turned out to be a better day for Mommy, but not so much for Austin. I walked him into school this morning and he didn't want to let go of me. We walked into school with some of our friends where the boys then posed for a picture.

I also had Austin pose by his class list, but you see how well that turned out!

The teacher mentioned this morning that Austin had an excellent day yesterday. She said he even received a compliment from a 4th grade teacher about how well he was walking in the hallway.

He must have had a good day again today, he came home with a blue color listed on his discipline chart!

Blue = Excellent behavior

I expect him to come home with blue on his discipline chart every day, we'll see how well that goes.

I'll leave you with some Pre-K art Austin brought home today:

Monday, August 25, 2008

The first day

It seems as though the first day of school went off without a hitch. I prepped myself the whole way to school, but it didn't seem to help in the moment I left my son at school for the first time. I really shouldn't be surprised, but I was an emotional wreck as I made a bee line for the doors heading out of the school into the parking lot. And of course, Austin did great!

From what we were able to get out of him, he had a great day at school. He was very excited that he got to ride a school bus to the Child Development Center (CDC) after school. The ladies at the CDC said he was great on the bus and was very polite while at the center. He was just finishing up his snack when I arrived at the center to pick him up.

Hopefully I'll be in a better emotional state when arriving at school tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a couple more pictures other then him standing by his clean underwear and walking to school! Tomorrow is the last day we can walk him into the school without getting a visitor's pass. After tomorrow, I'll be dropping him off at a circle drive where an aide will assist him with getting to his classroom.

He already knows his teachers name and is excited to take his own lunch in his backpack. (Which is on it's way!) He'll be in the swing of things in no time!

Now if I could only get him to stop growing up so fast...

Friday, August 22, 2008

Meet the teacher

Monday is the day I've been ~~excited~~ ~~sad~~ nervous about since I registered Austin for school.

Austin and I went to his school last night to meet his teacher and see the school. Once we found his name on the class lists, we went to his room where we were greeted by his teacher and went on a scavenger hunt to explore his classroom.

We first found his cubby where he will keep his backpack every day. We unloaded his school supplies and headed on to the next place, the place where he will read books.

(You know I brought my camera for this!)

We next moved onto the place where they can wash their hands and go potty.

Next it was on to the place where they might play house and pretend to cook. Austin's first meal he made at preschool was chicken. He was loving the kitchen part!

He then had to find his desk where he's going to do his best work. He had to find the spot where his name tag was and draw a picture for the class quilt. His teacher is going to take every one's picture and create a quilt for the first day of school.

His teacher took his picture and we continued on to check out the library and the cafeteria. We put some money in Austin's lunch account so he can eat lunch at school without having to carry actual money.

I think the cutest part was when the little girl who shares Austin's cubby came into the room. She'll also sit at the desk with him and I see a potential little "girlfriend" for him! She is so cute! She was wearing a little dress and even has an L.L. Bean backpack with her initials on it like Austin. Of course, I really slacked on getting Austin's new backpack (the shark one) ordered, but it should be here by next week. His backpack and his lunch box will both have his initials on it too.

We've been practicing our routine in the morning and it's gone pretty smooth. We'll be preparing ourselves all weekend for Monday. Let's just hope my emotions stay in check Monday...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The results

The doctor called me the other day with Abigail's bloodwork results. Her blood count was low and the doctor gave the diagnosis of "mild anemia". While she thinks Abigail tends to be on the lower scale of everything, she prescribed an iron supplement for Abigail to take once daily. She'll take the iron until we go back to the doctor in a couple months for her weight check. Along with being weighed at the appointment, she'll have to have her blood drawn again to see if the iron has made a difference.

Abigail better get going, her little cousin Brenden is outgrowing her like crazy!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Climbing

Austin was cleaning the top of his police car, or so he says.

And Abigail was attempting to climb into the window.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

ELMO!!!!

The kids and I went to see Elmo, Rosita, Zoe, Grover & Cookie Monster tonight. The Sesame/USO Tour has been at Ft. Hood the last two days. The kids had a blast and got a lot of fun (free) stuff. Abigail really got into it, rocking back and forth to the music while Elmo and his friends sang and danced.

Some of the pictures are pretty dark. I was zoomed in on the camera and I guess the flash didn't work too well!

My friend from work had to hold Abigail for me because Austin had to use the bathroom right in the middle of the show. I guess the good thing about that is that Austin got to walk right in front of the stage and see Elmo & his friends up close.

Abigail crashed on the way home.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

18 month check up

I'm pretty sure I wasn't Abigail's favorite person today. First she had to get two shots, then have her blood drawn and then I offended her by trying to catch a urine sample.

From the beginning...

Everything for her age looks great, except for her growth.

At 12 months she weighed 18 lbs even.

Remember at 15 months, she weighed 18 lbs, 3 oz and was 30 inches in length. Only a 3 oz weight gain in 3 months.

When we went back to the doctor at 16 months (for a weight check), she weighed 19 lbs, 6 oz. Gaining a pound and 3 oz.

Today, she weighed a whopping (drum roll please)... 19 lbs, 8 oz. Again, only a 2 oz weight gain in 2 months. She was also 30 inches in length, the same as what she was at 15 months.
Again, not on the chart for weight, and in the 10th percentile for height.

The only problem is, our girl can eat!

I was instructed to give her some PediaSure and come back in 3 months for another weight check. The doctor said she really wants to see her over the 20 lb mark.

We're not sure why she's not gaining weight, but the doctor is pretty sure it has to do with her family genetics. Michael doesn't have an ounce of fat on him, so it doesn't surprise me that one of our kids (actually, probably both of our kids) would take after him.

Which leads me to the blood draw. I took Abigail to the lab to have blood drawn so she could have a complete work up done. Even though the doctor thinks she's fine, she wanted to run blood work to rule out anything that might be causing her to not pack on the pounds.

She did rather well for the blood draw as long as you don't count the big crocodile tears that were springing from her eyes. My poor baby!

I also received a urine collection contraption to catch a sample from her. It's nearly impossible to catch a urine sample from an 18 month old, even with the contraption they provided. I got a small sample, lets hope it's enough when I take it to the lab tomorrow.

Hopefully we won't hear anything about the labs, and we'll pack on the few ounces she needs to make it over the 20 lb mark and onto the growth chart!