Events of the week...

 Luke turned 8 on Friday! As some, who have read earlier blogs know - that in itself is an awesome thing! He has been asking for every toy that comes on commercial for his "birsday" to the point where if I met an employee of a toy commercial company there would be an obligatory slap on the forehead (there are a lot of commercials!). I took cupcakes in to his class and brought along balloons for Luke and another boy in his class whose birthday was the day before. I had such a great time and laughed with (and at) his teacher, para, and therapists. Luke thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention. His "big" party will be soon - when my sister and her boys get here so that they can celebrate with us. Just another way to milk the entire birthday experience!!

He has been sick again. Apparently a strain of viruses is going around, and it is taking a long time to shake it. Luke has had his daily med list include: Pulmincort and Albuterol to go in the nebulizer, Mucinex, Murlax, ADHD med, Ciprodex, and Emergen-C and that's just in the morning... Seems to be coming through finally though.

I am back to changing his sheets everynight because he has gone through the pull up - Oy Vey when does that get to be done??


He has become a prayer warrior - praying for his friends, for him to remember to be responsible, respectful, and to be safe... LOVE IT!


Today, I heard it... Luke was in time out, in his room, having a baby fit, and what does he say? "But mom, I am dyyyyiiiinnnggg." Here's your Oscar dude.. really, take it - there is none that compares to you.

An Imagination Station.....

Luke and I cleaned his room up Sunday. He was a super helper... bit of an attitude and bossy, but the job didn't take long. He had been making a sport of getting up my nose that day so as "punishment" I told him he couldn't come out of his room until he had created a big train track (figuring it would give me time to study for my exam coming the next day). Under duress he created this beautiful track... then I came in and we built a "station" out of Lincoln Logs, and I located some decorations from his toy box to add to the scenery... showed him how to put logs on his train and take them to the station, etc. He got lost in his own mind/ imagination and played happily for hours. He got up at 6:30 and asked to turn on his light and play... I fell back asleep and had it not been for his sister, would have stayed that way and Luke would have missed the school bus!

His Princess...

After raiding the dentist's treasure box to get the right kind of rings that he knew would bring joy to his dear Princess Mikala, Luke wanted to see how they looked on her fair hands.... When he saw them he said in a high pitched excited voice, "OH MY GOSH, Mikala! Your such a PRINCESS!!"

Becoming Friendly with the ER

We have become familiar with the various routes to the hospitals in our area since Luke has been born. Routine trips for check ups mostly, a couple late night breathing treatments... but this weekend he had his second of two ER visits in the span of 8 months or less.. The first happened when he excused himself from the table to use the bathroom and then we heard a crash and that cry (you know... the i'm seriously hurt one), he had blood spurting out from the bridge of his nose in time with his heartbeat, there was water beginning to cover the floor because somehow when he fell he moved the toilet over an inch and a half and broke the water line. A couple of hours and a few stitches later we were home (1/2 the stitches stayed in for all of 20 minutes), now a few months later he has his battle scar but life is good.
Friday night we were going into wally world to get Dad's crackers and somehow he shut his fingers in his car door. My son - who does nothing by half - when it was all said and done - had broken the tip of his finger, taken off 3/4 of his fingernail, and had to have 2 layers of stitches because he had cut himself so deeply. Our fun didn't get to end there - he kept removing his splint, so we had to go back tonight to the ER - he ended up with some cool hand taping that he thinks is so awesome he hasn't messed with it one bit. It immobilizes  his finger, keeps the nailbed clean and he can't wait to go to school tomorrow to show his friends!!! Im just glad I have school and work tomorrow - I need a vacation from this weekend!

Luke and the Princess...

Luke loves all his siblings, but after figuring out how to get a movie on Netflicks (thank God it was a kid friendly one) he decided that his sister, Mikala was his princess and since she couldn't get him to grasp that Prince was for boys, Princess for girls, he became King Luke. Now coming back from school he has to hurry to "see my PRINCESS Mikala!"

Baseball Seasons Over...

Luke had  a great first season of coach pitch t-ball. We were so blessed to have an awesome coach and a totally uncompetitive team. His team-mates just wanted to learn and have fun, it was a perfect fit for Luke. The kids were all kind to him, the coaches were super patient and encouraging. He was very sick and had to miss three games, but he thoroughly enjoyed every one he made. He's ready to go again next year!

Update

Luke is almost done with first grade and he has made great strides. He has such a hunger to learn. He can't get enough of his "homework" books, you know those workbooks that you buy from the store for extra practice? He carries them in the car and around the house. Our big challenge now is learning to read. His teacher tells me that comprehension isn't a factor, just putting all the letter information together and recalling it. So we will continue to plug ahead at home and will look for a tutor this summer that hopefully will give him the extra boost that he needs.
He is playing Coach Pitch Baseball now, we were blessed with an awesome coach. Coach Mike and his assistants are amazingly patient with the kids... what a blessing he has been. Luke is doing fine, I recognize that professional baseball will probably not be in his future, but what he lacks in skill he makes up for in enthusiasm!! When he is tired of being in the outfield he creates his own game.... He chases the other players as they run the bases. Then there is the old standby of sand castle building and making your own dust storm. He's happy and most of the other players are doing the same things. I'm just glad that the  other team parents take this level of play for what it is... FUN!
More and more I am noticing what I had hoped to avoid, kids being mean to my kid because he was different. Ugh... it hurt. Luke didn't seem to understand that they meant what they were doing to be unkind and I was grateful to be able to steer him to another activity without any harm done. I was also grateful to know those childrens parents and know that they were the caliber of people who would deal with their child's behavior, not excuse it or encourage it. Luke didn't seem to notice being treated unkindly, but when another situation began to arise with different children and I said to him, "Don't play with them, Luke, they will be mean to you." He understood and found other playmates.
His health is good, fighting off a cough, but we all are. Great news! His back seems to be straightening on its own! Our last ortho check up was a super surprise!! Thank you Lord!
He is wonderful, sweet, funny, and a pill all wrapped up in one package. He drives us crazy, but we'll deal with it all to have the amazing kid that comes with it!