What's new with Daniel

A few Tuesday nights ago, the kids had swimming lessons and we went as a family to Fuzzy's afterward for dinner. Daniel wasn't on his best behavior at the restaurant. He fidgeted almost nonstop, didn't listen when we asked him to do things, played with his food before finally eating it, and needed constant redirection. It wasn't a fun time for him or us. We've experienced that scene many times before, but lately, we can see it through a different perspective.

Daniel isn't deliberately acting out when he behaves like that.

He is a child with ADHD.

Attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, aka ADHD, is a neurological condition that affects a person's ability to stay on task, focus, and inhibit inappropriate behaviors. It's believed to be genetically passed down, and while Kevin doesn't have it, we believe his dad, while never diagnosed, probably did. In summary, in a person with ADHD, the parts of the brain which control executive function don't do their jobs. Signals get lost in the static, such that a child with ADHD can hear the instruction to put on his shoes but fail to process it and convert it into action.

So how did we arrive at this diagnosis?

For as long as I can remember, I've suspected Daniel might have ADHD. One of the first incidents that stood out to me was shortly after Rebecca was born. He was 2 1/2 and I was home on maternity leave and had plans to meet up with 2 friends and their kids at the aquarium. One family was running behind, so my kids and I waited with my friend and her kids. Her son, just a few months older than Daniel, stood patiently at his mother's side as we waited and I don't recall her once having to redirect him. Daniel, on the other hand, was constantly fidgeting and darting away from me into the crowd and I had to physically hold his hand to keep him by me.

The incident worried me, but when it's your firstborn, it's hard to know what's typical toddler behavior and what's not. Plus, with a newborn in the house, it seemed reasonable that the acting out might just be a bid for attention. Still, it made me nervous to take them both out by myself to crowded places.

His first year of preschool went pretty well and the reports we got home from the teacher were generally good with only a few behavior issues. The second year he was still a happy kid and made progress but his teacher expressed frustration several times that he could learn and accomplish so much more if only he had better focus and concentration. She also mentioned some annoying and disruptive behaviors he had developed including playing with spit in his mouth, fidgeting constantly, and making noises, among others. We had a lot of talks with him about this and we would generally see improvement for a day or so, but then we'd revert back to the same.

This past school year though, the wheels came off. The inattention continued and so did the disruptive and annoying behavior, which at times became defiant. His teacher, a seasoned pro, tried a lot of things with him and kept in touch with us, often sending home detailed notes about the behavior issues and how they were preventing him from learning. The notes were difficult and frustrating for us to read but what she described mirrored what we were seeing at home. It wasn't just an issue at school or with this teacher.

A few weeks ago we had some particularly challenging moments. First, I took him with me to Dick's Sporting Goods while I handled a quick exchange. He ran away from me in the store not once but twice and rather than come when I called him, he'd laugh and run away through the store out of my sight (alas, Mommy's a runner so I caught up pretty quickly). While this happened in an enclosed space, I was truly afraid of what could happen if he did this somewhere else. What if he ran away at a crowded public place? Or near a busy street? And what if I'd had Rebecca with me too and couldn't easily chase after him?

A few days later I took both kids to Walgreen's to take their passport photos. There was a 5 minute wait for our pictures to be finished and it was among the longest 5 minutes of my life as each kid squirmed away and tried to grab everything in sight. I felt like a broken record constantly repeating "put those up," "come back," "hold my hand," "hold each other's hands." It reminded me why I never run errands with both kids with me if I don't have to.

Between the reports from school and our own experiences it was clear the problems were escalating. I didn't want to let him or us go through years of frustration if there were solutions available. It was time to take action. 

In late January we scheduled a meeting with the kids' pediatrician to discuss our concerns. She referred us to a child psychologist for evaluation and behavior modification suggestions. Kevin and I each filled out an evaluation and so did Daniel's teacher. As expected, the tests confirmed that he had ADHD. Specifically, his results were consistent with the combined type of ADHD, meaning he has at least 6 of the characteristics of both the inattentive type and the hyperactive-impulsive type- a combo package, if you will, where the sum is definitely more than the parts. Along with that, he also displayed some characteristics of oppositional defiance disorder, a condition which commonly coexists with ADHD in children his age. She then referred us back to the pediatrician for follow-up.

One of the reasons we like the pediatrician is her conservative approach of not medicating unless necessary. She doesn't routinely prescribe antibiotics for ear infections and when we first met with her about ADHD, she said that while medication is the gold standard for treatment, she doesn't generally prescribe it for children who aren't yet in grade school. So when we met with her again  after visiting the psychologist and she felt that Daniel's symptoms were severe and negative enough to warrant medicating at his age, the recommendation carried a lot of weight for us. Between that and our own research on it, we agreed to start him off with a low dose of a stimulant medication then go from there.

For the past month Daniel took a dose of Adderal XR every morning. It's certainly not a magic wand but I can see that it helped him. When he's "on," he listens and follows directions better and isn't as fidgety. And even though it has worn off (or, as he puts it "run out of energy") by the time I pick him up from extended care in the afternoon, he can describe his school day in far more detail than he could previously. I suspect this is because his brain is "capturing" the memories better during the day when the meds are reducing the static in his brain. His teacher noted that the fidgety behavior had greatly improved but the inattention persisted.

As with many medications though, it comes with side effects, namely appetite suppression and difficulty falling asleep. Daniel eats breakfast before taking his pill and still seems to be eating his lunch pretty well at school but his dinner appetite is noticeably lighter most nights. Also, even though we put the kids to bed around 8 it's not unusual for him to still be awake till well after 10 some nights which understandably leaves him tired the next morning. 

After our appointment this past Friday, we have a new medicine for him now, Focalin, and will see if that addresses the inattention better and may wear off more easily so he can sleep better. Finding the right dosage and formulation of the right drug is a trial and error process, so it may be awhile before we determine the magic combination. But at least we're on the right track.

Starting medication isn't the only big change for him lately. In light of the issues he was having in the primary (pre-K) classroom this year, the director made the decision to move him back to the pre-primary class he had been in the past school year. While we knew a change may be in order, it's not the change we were expecting. We thought he'd go to the other primary class but once the director explained it, the move made a lot of sense. 

First, we've long noticed that in extended care, when all the ages are together, he seemed to gravitate more toward the kids a year younger than him, so now during the whole day he's with his emotional peer group and in his comfort zone. Also, that classroom has an assistant, so there's a 5:1 student/teacher ratio, meaning more help and closer supervision than in the older classes, when the kids are expected to be more self-directing. And while this was a step back to a younger class, the individualized nature of Montessori classes is such that we knew he could still be appropriately challenged academically. His current teacher picks 2 of the 3 works he does every day to challenge him and if he does those well, he gets to pick whatever he wants for the 3rd. He has always enjoyed the practical life works so he always chooses one of those as his "reward."

Daniel tells us every day he's happy to be in this "new" classroom and that he likes his medicine because it helps him to listen, and his teacher reports that he is doing better and learning. We're hopeful that between the two changes, the rest of the school year will go well.

The diagnosis brought many feelings for me. Worry for Daniel and the extra challenges he'll face throughout his life in school, work, and personal settings. Guilt at blaming him for behavior that wasn't his fault. Realization that throughout his school career, I'll have to advocate for him to ensure he's given the chance and tools to succeed. Determination to learn all I can about ADHD so I can be the best mom. Humbled by the task in front of him and us. Grateful for the vast resource of other ADHD parents who, like me, find themselves members of a club they hadn't planned to join, but are determined to rise to the challenge membership entails. Resolve to help him harness the power of his turbo-charged brain and find ways to use this difference as a strength as so many successful people with ADHD have done.

Odd as it may sound, though, another feeling was relief. Because frustrating as Daniel's behavior was, now we understood why he was doing it. He wasn't ignoring or disobeying us because he was a bad kid. In fact, it was probably as frustrating for him as it was for us when we had hard days. He really wants to please us and I'm sure it was frustrating to him when he couldn't. 

I'm grateful to the teachers who shared their concerns. It would have been easy to just set him in the corner and let him lose chances to learn but they cared enough to let us know what was going on. I'm glad we took their concerns seriously and followed up.

ADHD also meant that the challenges I was having with him weren't because I was a bad parent. I couldn't help but notice that other kids his age seemed to listen to their parents better, and that tasks like taking both kids to the grocery store or solo parenting while Kevin was out of town seemed a lot harder for me than for other parents I knew. If not for the feedback from the teachers, I'd have thought maybe it was just me.

Now, armed with this knowledge and some behavior management techniques the psychologist shared with us, we can address his challenges more effectively. And help him develop his strengths. I'm as Type-A, left-brain logical as they come, so while we'll have plenty of misunderstandings I'm fascinated to see what I can learn from him. What connections will he see with his non-linear thought processes that the rest of us miss? What gift will his hyperfocus enable him to develop and hone? 

Michael Phelps's ADHD enabled him to spend hours upon hours in the pool. It may be that he is the success story he is today not in spite of his ADHD but because of it. I've read ADHD described as having a racecar engine with bicycle brakes. But if we can help him, through medication and coping mechanisms, to apply the brakes and control the steering, imagine where that turbo engine can take him. I'm excited to find out.

For the record, I don't see this diagnosis as anything to be embarrassed about or pitied for, for him or for us. It's a medical condition, not a reflection of his character or intelligence. Being smart and having ADHD aren't mutually exclusive, he just needs a little help unlocking his brain's capacity and directing its power. ADHD doesn't put a ceiling on his potential. And frankly, even if it did, as children's health problems go, I know plenty of parents and would-be parents who would trade situations in a heartbeat.

Fortunately ADHD is also a condition that the medical community has learned a fair bit about and the medications available, while not perfect, offer significant benefit to most individuals with ADHD. It may be that someday he doesn't need medication, or can reduce his dosage, but for now, it gives him the best chance to unlock his potential and be his best self. I'm thankful it's an option.

It's a long journey and we're only at the start of it. But I'm glad we know more and have options. Most importantly, Daniel was a sweet, smart, thoughtful, funny boy before his diagnosis and he's a sweet, smart, thoughtful, funny boy now. He's the same great kid we've loved from day one, but now we know more and have better tools to help him grow into the boy and young man he'll become.

Rebecca is 2!

Earlier this month, Rebecca turned 2. Our girl is 2! The little newborn I brought home from the hospital is now 2. 

We celebrated her birthday much as we did last year, with a small party at home with family and a few friends. The kids had a great time playing with their friends and we enjoyed catching up over dinner with everyone. Rebecca's still not quite to the point of playing interactively with the other kids but she does enjoy their company a lot.

Her birthday brought a few other milestones as well. First, a real haircut. Last year I trimmed the back to keep it from getting too mullet-y but recently it had gotten long and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I mentioned it to my stylist, who has a daughter too, and she offered to trim Rebecca's hair for me. Rebecca sat in my lap facing me as the stylist trimmed away. I think the end result turned out pretty well. She looks more like a little girl and less like a baby. She's always been beautiful but it's fun to see her features take shape more and see her look more and more like herself, if that makes sense.

Last week also brought Rebecca's first day of preschool. Even before she was born we've always planned for her to join Daniel at Apostles Day School shortly after her second birthday. So now on weekday mornings, Kevin dresses two kids in blue pants and red shirts and drops them off, and every afternoon, I pick them both up.

So far, school is going well. She took a little longer to warm up to her classroom teachers than the extended care ladies; not a surprise, given that she's seen the extended care teachers on a regular basis when she's come with me to pick up Daniel, but hadn't spent as much time with the toddler class teachers. Her first day she was shy about using the potty in front of her classroom teachers (yes, she's largely potty-trained during daytime hours now, thanks largely to her nanny, Gena's, efforts) but she's warmed up to them more over the rest of the week, at least if her daily potty chart is any indication. When I pick the kids up from extended care she's happily playing with other kids, and so very proud to carry her school bag by herself like big brother does.

Here we are snuggling on her last day at home before school:

She's so proud of that bag that she also wants to hold it in her lap on the drive home. One day she pulled a colorful soccer program flier out of the bag and Daniel, thinking it was stickers, used various forms of persuasion to try to get her to share them with him:

"Rebecca those aren't just your stickers, those are your stickers AND my stickers."

"You have to share! Because I'm your big brother. And I love you!"

"Rebecca, give them to me, do you understand?"

I must admit, it's funny to hear him get annoyed when she doesn't do what he asks. Must be frustrating when someone doesn't listen ;)

While we're excited about Rebecca starting school it's a bittersweet milestone too. As the song says, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Her starting school meant she isn't home during the day anymore, and that Gena isn't at the house 3 days a week anymore. When we posted an ad on Care.com we couldn't have hoped it would work out as well as it did, but she proved to be a wonderful fit for our family. The kids adore Gena and while we plan to ask her to babysit often, I know all of us, especially Rebecca, will miss seeing her on a regular basis. 

At her 2 year checkup earlier this month Rebecca weighed in at 23lb 3 oz and stood 34.25in tall, good for 9th and 65th percentiles. She's a healthy girl and the pediatrician was pleased with her development.

Her latest big development is potty training. She began to show interest last fall and once January rolled around we became more deliberate about offering the potty. A few weeks ago we switched from diapers to panties during awake times and most days she has only one or two accidents, if any. Naps and nighttime are still in diapers and will be until she learns to hold it longer and begins consistently waking from sleep dry. We may still have a ways to go but I'm impressed at her progress so far.

She is also still a good napper, napping 1-3 hours more afternoons than not. Don't know how long that will last, but we'll enjoy it so long as it does!

She remains as cuddly and affectionate as ever and will lean over to ask for "more kiss." Her favorite place to sleep? "Sleep Daniel room!" Of course, most nights they start out together but have to be separated, but it's cute that they want to be together.

But sometimes, she wants to sleep in Mommy's bed. Or, as she puts it, "sleep Ma room."

It's been a wonderful adventure so far, and I'm excited to see what's in store for us over Rebecca's 3rd year!

2014 Holidays

Now that the balcony lights are down and we're enjoying our last night with the Christmas tree before taking it down, I can just get my holiday update in under the wire ;)

Our Thanksgiving celebration began with the annual Apostles Day School Thanksgiving play and feast. His first year Daniel was part of Plymouth Rock, then an Indian, and now a pilgrim, complete with speaking part (his line was "To a new world!" in response to the line before his asking where the pilgrims should go to leave the oppressive King of England).

After the play we enjoyed lunch with our little star and some of his classmates and their parents.

For the Thanksgiving holiday itself we traveled to south Texas to the family ranch house to celebrate with my parents. As usual the kids loved spending time with Mimi and Baba and exploring the ranch. They especially enjoyed taking rides around in the old ranch truck and helping Baba drive the tractor and, when the weather was cool, playing with old toys on the kitchen floor.

As December rolled around we began getting ready for Christmas, which included the annual tradition of picking out a real tree to decorate. Daniel and I were the only ones to go to the tree lot this year but it'll be fun to take Rebecca too once she gets older.

Of course, I just realized tonight that I never got a picture of the tree-just in time before we took everything down ;)

We returned to our longtime church home, Incarnation, for the Christmas Eve service. We love our new church but it was fun to see old friends and experience the timeless beauty of a traditional service with organ and brass. The next morning I rose early to put our turkey in the oven. This was my first time to make the holiday turkey and after a few days of brining and drying, it was time for the main event. Aside from setting off the smoke alarm once or twice it turned out wonderfully.

To my surpise I had the downstairs to myself for a few hours as the family slept in. It was nice drinking my coffee, enjoying the quiet, and getting breakfast ready, and funny to look at friends' Facebook updates to read about the early rising kids who had already opened all their gifts.

We enjoyed a full house for Christmas-my parents, Kevin's mom and her sister visiting from Idaho, Kevin's brother and sister-in-law, and our friends the Rangels, who are our kids' godparents and whose own kids are close in age. 

It's always fun to see the kids play together and apparently Rebecca and Gabriela were of similar mind with their holiday party attire:

After the meal we enjoyed visiting with company and later, our annual tradition of watching It's A Wonderful Life that night. All told, it was my favorite Christmas in years. Good food, good company, what's not to love?

The kids were excited about the Christmas decorations but didn't actually show much interest in the gifts under the tree while they sat there wrapped. Daniel did sneak to open a few early though ;) Last year all he asked Santa for was a coloring book and some crayons and this year's wish list was similarly simple: a pair of sunglasses. He got that, plus a few books, toys, and some clothes. Rebecca has been in a big Minnie Mouse phase lately (and requests to watch Mickey's Christmas Carol at least once a day and points out when Mickey and Minnie appear) so her gifts reflected that, to her delight.

My mom bought each child a new pair of cowboy boots the following week when we were in Austin. Rebecca chose a pink pair. On the way there I asked Daniel what color he wanted and he immediately said "red," so once he saw a red pair he was set.

After the stop over in Austin we headed back down to the ranch, continuing our tradition of avoiding the Black Friday and New Years Eve crowds by being dozens of miles from the nearest town ;) The kids again enjoyed Mimi and Baba and tractor time but the highlight for Daniel was a tractor ride with my Uncle Charlie that ended by getting stuck in the mud. Weeks later he still likes pretending that his toy tractors and trucks are stuck and rescuing them ;)

It was a fun way to close out 2014 and start 2015 on a good note. 

How do I love you?

Over the past few weeks Daniel and I have had a sweet game we play at bedtime where we describe the ways we love each other. The game has had a few variations.

Variation #1: Distance

A spin on the "I love you to the moon and back" line.

Examples: 

"I love you to the school and back." "I love you to chapel and back."

"I love you to the garage and back." "I love you to the back door and back."

"I love you to the bathroom and back." "I love you to the toilet and back."

"I love you the ceiling and back." "I love you to the fan and back."

Variation #2: More than this

Examples:

"I love you more than ice cream." "I love you more than chocolate."

"I love you more than my bed." "I love you more than pillows."

"I love you more than your car." "I love you more than your bicycle."

Variation #2: Body parts

Examples:

"I love your eyes." "I love your smile."

"I love your brains." "I love your heart."

"I love your legs." "I love your feet."

Then, one day, a weird turn.

Daniel, to me: "I love your penis." (It seems our prior discussions of how boys and girls are different failed to register.)

Whether measured in distance, dessert, or body parts, I love my sweet boy and I love my sweet boy's big heart. Nearly every day he impresses me with some kind, thoughtful comment or gesture. Last weekend when I had stomach flu he wanted to take care of me and the next day when we shopped for Halloween costumes he chose a doctor costume so he could continue taking care of me. He enjoys sharing his desserts with Rebecca and tonight as we were getting ready to leave the house to go to dinner he went over to Rebecca to give her a big hug and asked if we were taking her with us, because he didn't want to go without her.

On a related note lately he's been on a kick of drawing pictures of our family. He learned the idea from an episode of Daniel Tiger when Daniel draws such a picture for his new baby sister's room. My Daniel's first picture of the family now hangs in Rebecca's room per his request.

A week or two ago he did a variation on the family picture. I told him about Baby Ellie, the 22 month-old daughter of some Aggie friends who has had several strokes and 2 major brain surgeries in the past few months and is even now still in the hospital. He has been praying for her every day "Dear God, please make the owie in Baby Ellie's head better." Then, on his own, he decided to do this:

I wrote the note but the artwork is all his. It's a picture of our family with Ellie and one of her parents (I forget if it was to be her mom or dad).

I've come to the conclusion that Daniel already knows more than most people about kindness, sweetness, and compassion. It's not my job to teach him those things, it's my job instead to nurture and preserve the big heart he already has.

Tinkle, tinkle little star!

A few weeks ago at the house of some friends Rebecca saw a potty chair. Though she'd never used one before or seen one used she knew what to do. She took off her clothes and diaper and sat down. Much to everyone's surprise, she struck gold, so to speak, on her first attempt!

When we got home I dug Daniel's old potty chairs out of storage and set one upstairs and one down. Since then we offer the potty a few times a day. Sometimes she wants to sit, sometimes she doesn't. I don't push her to do it but do give plenty of praise when she does sit. She's always quite pleased with herself after she sits, regardless of outcome!

Sometimes she drills a dry hole but more often that not she has success. A few times she has started taking off clothes on her own and pointed to the potty and promptly had a BM after sitting down so I think she's able to anticipate those and wants to do them in the potty. 

I don't consider her to be potty-training yet, and I don't think she's ready for that. But I'm glad to see she is gaining awareness and has desire to use the potty. She'll start preschool in February when she turns 2 and I'm optimistic that by then she may at least be out of diapers during awake periods. It's a promising start.

Weekend of fun

A few weekends ago Kevin was out of town and my mom came in to visit. We managed to pack a lot into those 3 days she was here.

That Friday evening we took the kids to Klyde Warren Park, one of the best new things in Dallas in the last few years. We bought dinner from one of the food trucks and had a picnic on the lawn. Then, after dinner, the kids had a great time running and playing in the playground. We topped off a fun evening with custom-made ice cream sandwiches from the food trucks. As the weather turns cooler and more pleasant I foresee a lot more Klyde Warren evenings in our future this fall.

The next day was the day Daniel and I had looked forward to for weeks, the A&M-SMU game. I got up to run and came home to a find the kids enjoyed a delicious breakfast. They always eat well when Mimi visits! Then Daniel and I donned our Aggie gear and headed for SMU. We arrived in time to hit the Dallas A&M Club and SMU Law School tailgate parties and it was fun to catch up with some friends out there. It was interesting being back on the SMU campus; even as a student there I barely ever ventured beyond the law quad into main campus. It felt vaguely familiar but I mainly just trusted the crowd to lead us to the stadium ;)

Our tickets (bought aftermarket on Stubhub) were in the SMU student section though you'd never know it from all the maroon around us. In fact, it was a sea of maroon all over campus that day. It made me both proud of the Aggie turnout and sad for SMU.

The game was about as competitive as you'd expect a matchup between the #6 team in the country and a team you could legitimately argue might be the worst Division I team and whose coach had just resigned. That was great for Daniel because our seats in the end zone proved to be a great spot to watch touchdowns get scored and extra points landed in the section right next to us. As excited as Daniel had been about the idea of "the Johnny football players" he was bored once we were there and soon asking to go home. (In fairness, it was a very hot afternoon.) I told him we had to stay to watch the Aggie band and then we could go. It was fun to watch his eyes light up as the band marched out and began the opening notes of the War Hymn.

As we were walking to our car he said he had a great time and wanted to go again tomorrow. He was probably a little young for this game but it'll be fun to take him and Rebecca in coming years, and someday show them around Aggieland.

The next day we crossed another item off my mom's Dallas bucket list. She had never been to the Dallas Zoo before, despite spending part of her childhood in Dallas, and the 3 of us had only been once last summer, so that was on the agenda Sunday. Last time we went Rebecca was a newborn who slept happily in my Beco carrier the whole time. This time she eagerly pointed out the "nimals" and wanted to be lifted up for a closer view. She and Daniel both were especially interested in the elephants, giraffes, and koalas. It'll be fun to go back as they get older and have longer attention spans; by the end of the outing we were all DONE.

It was a busy weekend and I was ready for a recovery day after all that walking around and time in the sun but we had a great time! Thanks Mom!

Funny kids!

No big news to share lately, just some funny stories and pictures.

The picky alligator

I forget how we got there, but one night recently Daniel was talking about an alligator and we started talking about what the alligator ate. Every food I'd suggest, Daniel had a reason why the alligator couldn't eat it.

Me: What about ice cream?

D: That's too cold for him.

Me: Chicken?

D: That's too spicy for him.

Me: Tomatoes?

D: That's too squirty for him.

Me: Coffee?

D: Only his mommy and daddy can have that, it's too hot for him.

Too spicy, too hot, too cold, too sugary, too milky, too disgusting (apparently the alligator is not a fan of fish). This is one picky alligator, apparently. Things he can have? Ice cream, chocolate, and candy. "Those are good for him." Hmm ;)

Since that night we've had variations on this conversation several times, always with amusing results. Sometimes he gets bored (or annoyed, I guess, that Mommy and Daddy insist on beating the dead horse) and he'll say "I don't want to talk about his food anymore." Usually though, he's game, with a smile on his face.

The entourage

As Rebecca gets older it's fun to see the ways in which she's a lot like Daniel and the ways in which she's her own little person. Daniel never had much interest in stuffed animals until the last year or so  but Rebecca adores her stuffed animals and dolls. She insists on hauling as many as she can carry with her everywhere she goes. Yesterday I had several errands to run with her and she brought 4 furry friends with her. She could barely wrap her arms around all of them (but didn't want my help, part of a general burgeoning independence movement) and needed me to left her from the parking lot to the sidewalk since she couldn't brace herself with her hands, but she insisted on carrying a full menagerie with her.

One of the animals she's carrying around is my old Pound Puppy, Milkshake. If memory serves I got him in 1st grade and he was a favorite toy for years.

Look who's swimming!

Daniel has always enjoyed his swim classes and on the handful of times Rebecca has watched his classes with me, she has always seemed eager to take to the water herself. So this fall we signed her up for intro classes and 2 lessons in, she's loving it. I get lots of one-on-one time with her during the week and take Daniel to his weekly lessons, so for the most part Kevin will be the one going to swim lessons with Rebecca. Daniel and I watched the first 2 lessons and it was fun to see him enthusiastically cheering her on. He even insisted on taking pictures of her and captured this great shot  of Rebecca enjoying her first lesson:

Monsters

A few months ago Daniel was scared of belly draggers coming to take him out of bed. This week it's monsters. He says monsters are coming to take him off to their cave. So, as I did with the belly draggers, I taught him a secret trick to get rid of them. I told him if a monster comes, you can scare it away by wiggling your fingers in your ears and saying "oogly-boogly!" (yes, he had been playing with his Scout toy earlier that day). Well of course he loved that, especially when I made the monster shriek "I'm melting!" Wicked Witch-style then made a fart noise as the "monster" died. Can't go wrong with fart noises where a 4 year old boy is concerned.

Aggie football season

A few weeks ago I bought tickets to take Daniel to the A&M-SMU game, aka, the battle of my alma maters (almas mater?). I told him about it and almost every day since he asks if we get to go watch "the Johnny Football players." The 2 hour lightning delay thwarted our plans a bit but he enjoyed watching a few minutes of tonight's game before bedtime.

He and Rebecca show off their Aggie spirit and sibling bond:

Bonus pictures

Because pictures of kids sleeping are always cute: