Happy 4th Birthday, Connor!

Yesterday was Connor's 4th Birthday. Poor little guy was sick with a bad cold. It seems that he is always sick on his birthday! He woke up in the middle of the night really upset. He had so much phlegm that he was trying to get up, plus the pressure in his head was giving him a terrible headache. Even though he looked better in the morning, we kept him home from school so he could rest for his party. He missed having his birthday in class, but he didn't seem to really mind.

We kept his party small, but it was still a lot of fun. We told him that he could invite his "girlfriend" and best friend from school. Josie is in Hawaii, but Tony and his family came over. Of course, my family was there and Jim's mom is in town. It's amazing how much noise four boys can make!

Has It Really Been 18 Years?

I have been on Facebook for over a year now, but living in Washington, I have not had the opportunity to reconnect with anyone in person. While not close in high school, I have gotten to know Andrea and Kristen on Facebook. We finally had the chance to meet up this week.

Kristen actually lives in Tacoma, about 20 or so minutes from us. Andrea, who lives in Texas with her 12 year old son, has been in Washington this week visiting her niece, who happens to live in Gig Harbor (of all places). Small world, huh? We thought this would be a great chance for all of us to get together.

Andrea and her son, Skyler, hung out with us yesterday. We took them around Tacoma and Gig Harbor, and then came back to the house once Tyler was home from school. The boys all got along well, playing Wii and Guitar Hero.

Today, we all met up at Hello, Cupcake! in Downtown Tacoma and ordered 5 different cupcakes that we split. Yum! After we finished, Kristen mentioned the Glass Bridge that was across the street from the cupcake shop and next to Union Station. Having driven under this bridge many times over the years, I had no idea that the entire bridge has Chihuly glass inside. The ceiling is beautiful, and one side of the bridge has the glass on display. Tyler was having fun taking pictures and wants to bring his dad back to show him.

The last picture was taken at the University of Washington, Tacoma Campus which is in the same area and the Hello, Cupcake! and the Glass Bridge. Very cute area, even in the rain!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

New School, Yummy Cupcakes!

Tyler was supposed to have his first baseball practice last Monday, but Gig Harbor was hit hard with another snow storm. It was crazy, but clear enough for the boys to return to school on Tuesday (Wednesday for Connor). Their impetigo is clearing up and they are feeling much better.

The biggest thing to happen this past week was a call from Purdy Preschool. Connor has been on a waiting list for over a year and I wasn't really expecting to hear back from them. We had looked into the school last year when we were deciding on a preschool for Connor. We had not been totally happy with the Montessori when Tyler was there, so we were looking for a change. Plus, the preschool is located at Tyler's elementary school, making it much easier to have both boys going to the same school rather than driving clear across town.

Even though I had registered Connor only a week earlier at the Montessori for next year, and paid the $100 non-refundable registration fee, we decided to check out the new school. We went this past Thursday and Connor really liked it. The classrooms are much smaller and only have a maximum of 14 students, much less than the Montessori. Plus, we liked the idea that when we walked in the classroom, there were two certified teachers working with all the students, as well as a speech pathologist. Like Jim said, in the three years we have been at the Montessori with both Tyler and Connor, we had never really seen the teachers working with the children. To us, they seem like glorified babysitters. We like the idea of Connor having more structure and direction, so think the new preschool will be a better fit.

The preschool does mix special needs children with non special needs, but so does the elementary school. It is something that Connor will be exposed to throughout grade school. He's a compassionate little guy, so I think he will do fine making new friends.

We also found out that he may qualify for free preschool. I have been a little concerned about his speech. When he talks fast, he isn't pronouncing all the correct sounds. Plus, he has fluid in his ears which I think is affecting his hearing. When he talks, he sounds very stuffed up and mumbles. We are going to have him evaluated on April 24 to see if he qualifies for free preschool. I am sure they will determine that he will grow out of his speech issues, as Tyler did, but at the very least, it's nice to know there is a speech pathologist in the classroom. Even if we have to pay the tuition, it's much cheaper than the Montessori, and he will be going four days a week instead of three.

We have not told the Montessori about our decision to pull him out at the end of the year. We will wait until June because we don't want it to affect how they treat him, although I would hope they wouldn't treat him differently because he is not returning in the fall. We just feel that the new preschool will be better for Connor and that's all the really matters.

Yesterday, Laura and I took the boys to Tacoma. I had heard about a place called Hello, Cupcake!, so we decided to take the boys and check it out. There were eight different cupcakes. The boys tried vanilla with chocolate butter cream frosting. I bought one for Jim, as well as a red velvet with cream cheese frosting and coconut with butter cream (although it tasted more like cream cheese, but that's not what it said on the menu) to take home. The coconut was my favorite. So yummy! I got a couple pictures, along with some pictures of the boys after they got into my lipstick this morning. It looks more like chocolate frosting. Tyler finished off the look by putting on Grandma June's earrings. Silly boys!

Paging Doctors Picklesmith and Seuss!

A few days ago, we noticed bumps on Tyler and Connor's faces. We thought they were spider bites, until they started to look like they had puss in them...I know, gross! Connor had a couple under his nose and Tyler had one under his mouth and on his chin.

Yesterday, we noticed that Tyler had another bump on his finger, so I knew it was something that was spreading rather than a bug bite. Tyler said they were painful, and now they were starting to look crusty. Again, gross! We took the boys to Urgent Care and found out that they have Impetigo. Not sure how they got it and who picked it up first. We hadn't heard of any kind of outbreak at school, but I am guessing that's where it came from.

While we were waiting for the doctor, the boys were pretending to be doctors. Tyler said he was Dr. Picklesmith. Connor said he was Dr. Seuss. Both operated on daddy while we waited. It was cute!

The boys are contagious, but fortunately, it is more common in children. I think Jim and I are pretty safe. I did wash all the bedding though. The boys are happy that they get to miss a day of school. They will be on an antibiotic for about two weeks. Connor likes the flavor, but Tyler thinks it tastes disgusting.

While we were at the doctor, we had her check out the little wart on Connor's hand. He was so brave when she froze it off. You could tell it hurt, but he didn't cry once. We told him that he was Iceman and has the power to freeze whatever he touches. He thought that was funny!

Bugs, Bullies, and Baseball

It's Friday evening, so time to reflect on the past week:

A Bug's Life...no more: The wasps are finally out of the attic. Jim doused them with wasp spray a couple days ago. Not sure if there were live wasps in the hives or dead ones from last season, but once Jim sprayed, they were all over the outside. Ewww! Sans wetsuit, Jim went in the attic and removed the hives this afternoon. I was going to take pictures, hoping the hives could be removed whole, but all Jim brought down was some shredded paper with combs. Ha! At least they are gone. It was kind of creeping me out, knowing that those enormous things were up there!

Playground Bullies: A couple weeks ago, Connor started complaining of tummy aches when I would wake him up for school. He would tell me that he felt sick and couldn't go to school. He even said that his teachers told him to stay home if he wasn't feeling well.

We really didn't think much of it until Connor told us this past week that there are a couple kids at school who aren't being nice to him. One boy even told Connor that he isn't smart. :(

Connor has never complained about school and has always been excited to go. I mentioned what was going on to another mom at school. She called and said that her son told her that these two boys had been teasing Connor on the playground, reaffirming what Connor had been telling us.

Connor didn't want to go to school again this morning, but we reassured him that we would be talking to his teachers. It's not something we wanted to make a big issue out of, but definitely something that they needed to be aware of. I told them that Connor is a pretty tough kid, so to have a change in attitude about going to school, something has been clearly bothering him. Fortunately, no teasing happend today at school, but at least Connor's teachers are now aware of the situation in case it happens again.

Baseball Politics (my biggest gripe of the week): As I mentioned in an earlier post, we found out that Tyler had been selected on the baseball team, RoughRiders. There is so much behind this story, but bascially, several of the parents from last year had hoped Jim would manage a team this year. For whatever reason (politics, not enough players, too many applicants, ???), Jim was not picked by the league to manage.

In the meantime, another dad, who was not a manager or coach last year, but his son was on Tyler's team, was given a team to manage. Nothing against this dad, but I don't think the league should have picked someone just because they know him over someone who managed a team last year, but that's Little League politics for you! Furthermore, this dad teamed up with one of the coaches on our team from last year, so we pretty much knew how this was all going to turn out.

The boys had tryouts, there was a draft, and Tyler was put on a team with a manager we don't know. There were about six players on last year's team that were hoping to stay together, but suddenly Tyler is now on a different team. Personally, I don't even think they tried to get Tyler. What irritates me most about it is not so much the manager, but the coach who helped Jim out last year. Unless Tyler was chosen early in the draft, I feel this guy didn't give Jim or Tyler the respect they deserved.

This evening was the Meet the Managers Event. We met Tyler's new manager. He seemed nice enough...maybe a little hardcore to be managing six and seven year olds, but I am not going to judge until I see him with the players.

When we were done talking to Tyler's manager, I took the boys around the room so we could scope out the other teams. Jim was at work, so was not able to go with us. Lo and behold, four kids (that I noticed) from our old team were part of this new team with the coach that Jim picked last year. Not cool!

Like I said, Tyler could have been chosen early in the draft, however, part of me really feels like Tyler and Jim have been snubbed throughout this entire process.
To add salt to my wounds, the coach saw Tyler and headed right over to him. He said, "Hi, Tyler! How are you?" and shook his hand. He barely acknowledged me! What the heck? Jim and I were nothing but nice to these people, and up until a couple months ago, they were all gung ho about staying together as a team. I might be reading too much into this, but I felt like that hand shake was a slap in the face.

This would have been the perfect opportunity for him to say something to me, and believe me, it took everything in me to hold back. If he had told us that they really wanted Tyler and Jim (as a coach), but Tyler was picked by another team early in the draft, I would have been totally understanding. Even Tyler noticed that he barely would look at me, so really, why come over?

If this situation had been reversed and Jim was a manager or coach, he would have tried his best to keep the team and coaches together. I feel like this guy really dropped the ball, whether deliberately or not.

Jim doesn't seem to care! I get myself worked up, especially when I am feeling protective of my family. I had heard baseball is political, but it's amazing how early it starts. Jim is now relieved that we aren't all together. He doesn't like cliques. Who knows, maybe it will all work out for the best, but believe me, on game day, we are going to kick their butts! ;)

Tyler's Room Makeover

Last month, we decided to give Tyler's room a makeover. Tyler asked if he could have a more "grown up" looking room, so he picked out bedding from Pottery Barn Teen and we went from there with colors and accessories. We kept his old furniture, but found some very cool accessories at Ikea: new shelves, a mirror for over his dresser, dry erase boards for under his window, and a clock. I also repainted the walls and "Tyler" letters. The pictures show the final result...pretty cool for a six year old! :)