Another week done

We have survived our first full week back to activities and school.

Miss L was placed with the teacher I had hoped for. She is thrilled to be in Mr. G.’s class. Yesterday, on the way to soccer she told me that he makes her excited to go to school!

N wasn’t too happy with his teacher. He was placed with the teacher he wanted the least, but I think he is settling in. He asked for me to call and request a class change but I refused to do it. He will just have to adjust.

LH is so happy to be back in preschool. He has wonderful teachers and many of his friends from last year are back in his class.

First day of preschool

(And yes, that’s the only first day photos I have…what a bad mommy I am! ☺)

Last Monday, LH – our baby – turned 4! It’s hard to believe.

We celebrated with family the day before. My wonderful mother in law made his cake

On his actual birthday, I did something I have put off doing but he requested it. I turned his car seat around to forward facing. After dinner and bath, we had to take a spin around the block. He loves his new perspective! He is becoming a back seat driver!

Soccer started for all 3 kids this weekend and made for a crazy day! Miss L played at 10am. Because there are only 3 teams in her division, and the league is waiting to interlock with another club, they scheduled our girls to play a rep team a year younger. It was a tough game. At 11am, LH was set to play on a different field. Because its only 4 year olds, there aren’t real teams – the kids just do drills and play fun games. I didn’t get to watch, but D told me that LH did great, had lots of fun and was impressed by the staff coaching. Best of all, LH gets his own jersey! We had to modify the shin pads to fit and I still can’t find cleats in his size. At 12pm, N took the field (in a different city!). I am so happy with how his team played – they were passing, and making smart plays. They won 8-0… Hope they don’t expect all games to be this easy!

(Again…only photos of him…yikes! Need to get some photos of the older kids in their jerseys)

As for me, I am trying to stick with my runs. I started a learn to run clinic on Tuesday. It was week 2 for the group, so we did 2 min walking then 1 minute jog x5 then walked the rest of the way. I found it to be pretty easy since I am in week 7 of the c25k program, but looking ahead to next clinic it’s a 2k run which is better suited to where I am at. I was given a schedule for the program, so I’ve been trying to incorporate both that and the c25k app into my runs. This week has been busy as there is a lot going on at the school, and the heat wave zapped a lot of my energy. On Thursday I was able to fit in a 20 min jog in my immediate neighborhood – Miss L didn’t want me going any further away as a possible cougar sighting close to her school caused a lockdown. The clinic program had me do hill on Saturday, which was great as its something I avoid. My clinic leader suggested a road close to my house that has a gentle incline so I did loops on that – walk up and then jog down. 4 loops that equaled just over 5k. I’ll try to do 5 loops this week.

A running fail?

Tonight was week 7 day 1 of the C25k program – a 5 minute warm up, then jog 2.5 miles (25 minutes).

Feeling confidant after my last run through residential streets, I decided to stay local to my neighborhood. There were several things I learned on this run.

*Daylight. This is easy to misjudge. After dinner I had told LH that I would take him outside to play for 10 minutes before my run. When it’s bright out, it’s hard to imagine how quickly it gets dark once the sun slips behind the houses.

*Route. I was a little excited about the idea of starting my run as soon as I walked out the front door. I decided to head west of our house, where the streets are older and don’t all go through. I left the house without a concrete route. This proved to not be the best idea, as I ended up on a busy street. By that point, the sky was dark, there were no street lights and no sidewalk. I will admit to feeling a little nervous about the situation, and thankful that I should soon be running in the mornings.

*Street vs Track. The track has many advantages. It’s bouncy. There’s no getting lost. There are no cars to worry about (though, on football practice nights, you do have to dodge people!). It’s also flat…which is nice but not realistic, especially if you ever plan on running anywhere else.

Tonight’s run started off with a slight incline, which I felt but was doable. Then it went downhill and I felt great. But, then I hit a slope. And it’s not a big slope by any means, but its long. I drive that stretch of road coming home from the track and its not that noticeable in the car. But it got me tonight. I had to slow to a walk. At first I was upset with myself for not being able to run the whole way, but then I realized that even if I wasn’t running, I was walking. And that is better than sitting on my butt watching Moneyball (which is what is playing in the background as I type this).

As I got closer to my immediate neighborhood, which includes street lights and sidewalks, I started running again. And when the voice on the app told me apt that my workout was over, I kept running for an extra five minutes to make up for the time that I walked.

Tonight was not a fail, but a learning experience. I will redo week 7 day 1 until I can run 25 minutes without walking. And I will come back to tonight’s route and master that hill (and I do imagine that will take more than one attempt).

And I did learn that jogging on the spot while waiting for the light to change feels even funnier than it looks. 😉

And so it begins again…

Another school year has started….Another season of soccer….

The two older kids went for their first day yesterday. Other than a bussing mishap for N, all went well. There are often still students registering this week, and sometimes one or two new students can require a complete resifting of the classes. So this week, the kids rotate between the grade teachers and we should know their teachers on Friday afternoon. N already has a preference to which teacher he gets, so I hope he won’t be too disappointed if he doesn’t end up in that class. I don’t know any of the teachers, so I’m pretty neutral. I do have a preference for who L gets, but I am biting my tongue and not saying anything to her.

LH was due to start his second year of preschool today, but he came down with a fever on Tuesday. He seemed to be getting better today, but the fever came back right before bed tonight. Poor guy. I was hoping he would be able to make it to school on Friday (half the class went today, the other half on Friday), but I don’t know.

The older two have had a few soccer practices already. The girl has her first game this weekend and N has his next weekend. I really enjoy watching them play, and I do have a great time with the other parents. We’ve been lucky to end up with some great teams.

LH is also registered to play in the U5 division. I’m still a little confused as to what his season will look like, but I hope he has fun. He does enjoy practicing with his brother and the big boys. N’s teammates are awesome with him – when he takes a shot on goal, the goalie will make an exaggerated attempt to save the ball, but letting LH score.

Wanted to share this photo too…the boys and I went to the beach last week, for a last skim of summer

I have been trying to keep up with my running. I found a learn to run clinic that ends with a 5k run. It happens to fall on one of LH’s non preschool days, but my mom has offered to watch him. Lucky me!

With our evenings now busy with activities I had planned on using the time that LH is at school to run. With this week being a gradual entry week, plus him being sick, I decided to use the time that L was at soccer practice to run. I’ve been hesitant to run off the track. I don’t know why, really. Maybe it’s just the randomness of running the streets without a destination, taking turns at will? On the track, I just put my head down and go – no thinking other than dodging the people that are there for football practice 😉I’m hoping that the clinic will help me get over my ‘fear’ of streets…

So, while my runs usually look like this…

…tonight’s run looked like this

But…it was also my longest run to date! 22 minutes. I try to not look at the time when I am running, but I happened to peek with a minute 30 seconds left. I felt so good! I pushed myself a little faster…and dare I say it…enjoyed it!

And of course, today marks 14 years married! It was also my due date with LH…he of course wanted his own day, and stayed put until the 9th.

Running

Running is something I always told myself I couldn’t do. I can walk for hours, and enjoy it, but I’ve never had the desire to pick up the pace and run.

This summer, I have downloaded a C25K app (couch to 5k), and I’ve been working my way through it. We have a great athletic park only minutes from our house, with a running track. We have a treadmill at the house, but I do enjoy running outside (though that may change when the weather gets yucky 😃). I used the treadmill a lot when I was pregnant with LH, motivated to keep the gestational diabetes under control. But when I’m on the treadmill, I am easily distracted by household responsibilities and, of course, the kids ( even if they stay upstairs). At the track, I’m on my own – I can just put my headphones in and not stop until I want to. Not to mention, the park in surrounded by farmland and the regional airport – it’s nice to see the planes taking off and landing and doing lessons.

The program is great – slowing increasing the running compared to the walking. I was surprised to find that I was enjoying it – until I saw what today’s program was. 5 minutes walk to warm up, followed by running 20 minutes straight. What? Could I even do that?

I did it. And I didn’t pass out, or throw up.

And after I realized, I am halfway to running 5k. I’ve got my eye on a 5k run in November…now I just need to work up the courage and register.

A few weeks ago I had lunch with an old friend. We talked about how hard it can be to make time for ourselves. She reminded me that if I made a commitment to a friend for coffee, I wouldn’t cancel, yet time for exercise is often the first thing that goes when life gets busy. Our conversation has stayed in my mind. Luckily for me I have a family that supports me – many evenings I have left dirty dishes and bedtime baths for D to handle while I lace up my runners. I’m not sure what will happen when the full craziness of life hits next week and the weather turns wet…I’m sure we will all find a new routine…

Endo update

Today we trekked down to Children’s Hospital for LH’s yearly visit with the endocrinologist.

I was surprised by all the construction going on at the hospital – of course, LH loves watching the big machines work. We arrived a few minutes early, so LH had a few minutes to watch from the second floor.

His appointment started off with getting measured. Last year, the lady who measured him said if they ever made a video to teach staff how to measure a child, they would use LH as he is so good. I don’t think he has ever fussed at a doctors visit.

While I understand the endo can’t really do anything, as hypochondroplasia isn’t a hormone issue, I do like going as they are the best at measuring. They measure everything, including his legs and arm spans.

It has been a year since our last visit (almost to the day), which makes it nice for comparison. 😉

In the past year, he has grown 5.5cm in height. He gained 1 kg. She measured his head at 53cm – same as last year, didn’t realize that until I came home. Hmmm…

His legs went from 35.3cm to 38.3cm, and his arm span went from 75.5cm to 83.5.

Edited to add….they are pleased with his overall health. Ears and throat looked good. No concerns!

I thought that this would be our last visit, but the doctors would like to see him again next year.

Trying again

So, yesterday I had a whole post typed up, and then hit delete by accident. Very frustrating. And I know I won’t be able to remember everything I had said.

LH finishes off preschool in June. He had a great year – we are very lucky to have such a great preschool so close to home. The teachers are amazing – LH is already asking to go back! In September he will start the 3 day program. Here he is on the first and last day of preschool –

The two older kids ended the year with excellent report cards, no real surprise there. Miss L will be going into grade 4 – the start of intermediate grades….she will have the opportunity to be a lunch time monitor, and will now have letter grades on her report card! Our area is going through a lot of change right now – we are making the change to a middle school format, which means Miss L has two more years at her current school before going to middle school. For N, that means that after grade 7, he will have one year at the middle school before heading off to high school.

The late spring brought track and field, which N took part in. At the school level, he qualified for 3 events – long jump, 400m and the 4 x 100m relay. At the district meet, he placed 3rd in the long jump and 400m and second in the relay. I was able to be there and cheer him on (quietly, of course! Lol!). We were very proud of him, and that experience created a desire to qualify for more events next year.

The summer has been good…beach days, lake days, water parks and playgrounds. The older kids got to spend a week at Keats Camps, which they just loved. I went there when I was in high school, and it brought me so much happiness to see them get to experience it. Neither kid had been away from home for that long – L has done 2 weekends away with Brownies. I was very anxious while they were away, eager to hear how they were doing. We were lucky to go up on the Sunday to visit – even though we were picking them up the next day, it was wonderful to see them in the camp, and have them show us around. I can’t say enough good things about the camp…the kids got to do so much – kayaking, canoeing, tubing, wakeboarding to name a few. N was able to go out on a laser boat (a small sail boat) with a buddy and learn how to sail it. They are already talking about next year!

LH sure missed his brother and sister while they were gone! I think it was a bit of a shock for him – the house was so quiet! He is doing very well….talks all the time, and we are full on in the ‘why?’ stage. We still see speech to help with pronunciation. We have started working on the ‘k’ sound – he won’t keep his mouth open to make the correct sound.

On Wednesday LH has his annual check up with the endo. We started seeing them while we were still investigating his growth issues and have just been going back each year for monitoring. Since hypochondroplasia has nothing to do with hormones, there is really nothing they can do for us. I do like seeing them as they measure him much better than anyone else – they are the only ones who measure his legs. I know in the big picture these numbers aren’t that important – I can tell he’s growing, albeit slowly.

I recently deleted a bunch of photos off my phone, but I’ll post some random ones from the summer…lol!

Ugh

I had just typed a whole long post and I lost it. Will try again soon…

A first

First off, let me share a photo of LH, because he is just so cute. Last week we celebrated Earth Day with Miss L.’s school, and LH wore his green shirt to take part

Last week, LH and I were walking to school in the afternoon to pick up the girl. I was approached by a mom who was heading to the school as well. I knew who she was, as her son had been in L’s Kindergarten class – even remembered her name! Right away she asked if LH was a Little Person. She was the first non medical person to notice. Now, I am not one to hide the fact that he has dwarfism, I am happy to talk about it and answer questions, but at the same time I don’t make a huge deal. Often people remark how small he is – depending on who it is, or my mood that day, I will either smile and nod, or explain. Sometimes I worry that I will make the other person uncomfortable if I tell them. It was weird – I was a little surprised that someone else noticed, but in a way I’ve been expecting it.

It turns out that her sister has diastrophic dwarfism. I asked her if someone had told her about LH (while we have a large school, it’s a close community, and we do have kids in the same grade – definitely some mutual friends). But no, she could tell on her own – the way his legs and arms moved when he walked, his mannerisms reminded her of her sister.

It was a good feeling being able to talk to someone about this in person, face to face. It also reminded me that pretty soon, his differences will be more noticeable. I only hope that I am strong and prepared for the day that he asks me why. He is still oblivious to his size.

It was also a reminder that there is a community right here – the LPBC. The membership form is filled out, and ready to be mailed off. And, the gracious Marla, who despite having so much going on her in personal life, has once again reached out to us. We must get together soon. I’m also thankful for the families I have met on Facebook, from all around the world. When you have a question about something that most kids don’t worry about, like head size, or leg bones, it’s nice to have people who understand and have gone through it.

Another speech post

At our last speech therapy appointment, the Speech therapist did another assessment on LH. This is what she did back in the fall, which found him to be very delayed in words, and moderately delayed in sentence structure. The assessment in March found he has improved in both categories and now falls under age appropriate. Great news! He still drops the first sound of a word, so he still needs to continue in therapy to work on that. She suggested a 6 week break, where we would resume therapy in May.

I had mentioned to her about the stuttering. The problem is, LH doesn’t initiate conversation with anyone outside of his family – not even his preschool teachers, so they don’t hear what I hear. The therapist listened in while I spoke to him, and she did pick up a few instances where he repeated the sound, but it was nothing like he gets at home. She also noticed that there was no eye blinking, facial tension or other physical movements that went with the stuttering. She graded him a 3/10 (with 1 being little to no stutter and 10 being the worst possible).

Well, in the last few weeks the stuttering has become more frequent. Also, I am seeing eye blinking and facial tension. I decided I wasn’t comfortable waiting 4 weeks to restart therapy, so I phoned and made an appointment to go in on Monday. I’m sure this is just a phase, that his mind is going 100 times faster than his mouth but I will feel better doing something, and not just waiting around.

And just because he is so cute, here’s a photo – it was right after a hair cut and he didn’t want his photo taken…

Whistler Blackcomb 2013

The kids are now into their third season of snowboarding. We’ve always talked about taking them up to Whistler Blackcomb, and I know D has always wanted to show the kids where he likes to ride.

With Spring Break, and D getting some time off of work, we planned a weekend away. My friends sister owns a condo on Blackcomb and we were able to rent it. When traveling with kids, a condo is so much better than a hotel room. There is a separate bedroom for privacy, and best of all – a full kitchen. We all know how eating out, with a family of 5, can get expensive. I planned for dinners for 2 out of the 3 nights – we were on a mini vacation after all, so we did eat out once. It is so much easier and faster to wake up and cook breakfast than to go out.

We got into the condo on Friday, unpacked our groceries and headed out for dinner and a few errands. Saturday, we woke up early and D and the kids headed out. We put Miss L into a day long lesson. It was pricey, but such a good program. It was her and 4 other kids. She was outfitted with a GPS unit. The lesson included snacks, lunch and – most important, lol! – priority lift access. The teacher was great and L really enjoyed her day. She passed level 3!

After we got home, we were able to log on and see all kinds of neat stats from her day. She was a little disappointed to see the speed – we had to explain to her that it was just an average from the day, and included time that she wasn’t moving at all, like eating lunch, or moving slower, like when they played at the playground (located on the ski runs, so kids can take a break – how cool! I didn’t even know that existed!). We could see her speed graphed out and she gets up to 25km/h at some points.

I was anxious to hear how N and D did. When the three of them ride the local mountains, D is busy with L, so N rides on his own…which means I rarely get any video footage of N. They were joined by D’s friend who is a local. The three guys had a great day – N had no trouble with the bigger mountain. I think he is now at the point of out ridding his dad (who, in his defense, is taking things easy this season as he has issues with his knee 😉). D’s friend was really impressed by N’s ability. I do believe that it was D’s friend who took these photos…

While the kids were boarding, LH and I spent the day hanging out. Our condo was located on Blackcomb mountain – you walked out of the complex and you were right on the ski run. A quick walk down put you in Upper village, and from there it was a short stroll to Whistler Village. We set out exploring, and found a bob sled, the Olympic Rings and a playground, as well as lots of snow piles to play on and things to climb on (he is just like his big brother that way!). Here are some photos of our afternoon.

Saturday night was pretty low key – though N was ready to keep boarding. He was disappointed to find out WB closes at 4pm, too early in his mind! Miss L wanted to go swimming, so I volunteered to take her.

I know the pool was heated, but I was not about to join her – couldn’t deal with the cold when it’s time to get out. I was happy to sit at the side, (wearing a spring jacket, a winter jacket, gloves, scarf and hat!) with my book and beverage 😉.

The cold didn’t bother her, and she swam until I couldn’t read anymore…

Sunday morning we slept in and had a big breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon…LH wanted to show the older two the playground, so we set off for the village…

After strolling the village, we went back to the condo for lunch and to wait until the lifts closed so we could do some sledding. Our friend was kind enough to leave a couple of sleds for us to use. LH wasn’t too sure at first – we were over in an area that was clearly marked ‘no tobogganing’, probably because it was way too fast! We moved to a smaller hill, and found a perfect run – he could do it all himself.

(The building on the left side of the photo? That’s where we stayed – cant get more convenient than that!)

I have a great little video of LH sledding down, right at the end you can hear him say ‘More!’ I will upload it with the boarding videos (over 60 clips of Saturday and today!).

Monday was check out time. We left early so we could stop at Shannon Falls Provincial Park on the way home. I had visions of the kids being bored, and me begging for just one more photo. Boy, I was wrong! All 3 kids loved it, and we had to beg them to leave after an hour and a half. N actually asked to go back today! They had so much fun climbing and exploring. I took many photos, but will only share a few…

(I ended the weekend with an evening out with friends and many laughs – perfect ending!)

The day after we got back, D and the kids headed up to the local mountain. They spent the afternoon at the park – so now between the 2 days I have many (many!) video clips to go through. /