Sleep Peeing

So we have Piper who is still working on staying dry over night and then you have Bryce who never has wet the bed since the day he was potty trained.  When we lived in the old house, if he had to pee in the night, he'd usually start hollering for one of us because he was too scared to get up by himself.  I think he's over that (mostly) because I've heard him get up in the night and go since we've lived here.  However, in the past week or so he's had some incidents where he gets up to pee and then doesn't remember it in the morning.  These nights almost always coincide with baseball games when he's very tired and has had a lot to drink.

It always starts with him rolling around in bed and he usually ends up knocking the wall a bunch of times so that it startles Jason and I.  When one of us go in, he's usually sitting up in bed looking disoriented and we ask him if he has to pee.  The other night for me, he said, "YES!" and ran out of the room only to run directly into Piper's room (next to the bathroom).  I quickly whispered loudly - "NOT IN THERE BRYCE!! THAT'S PIPER'S ROOM!"  (Can you imagine what he might have peed on in there???)  He went into the bathroom, left the light off because the night light is quite bright while I stood outside.  He clearly didn't know I was out there because when I whispered to him to flush, it scared the crap out of him.  He made the most terrified face and drew his arms up all weird - it made me laugh!!!  "I DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE!!!"  Then he shuffled back to bed and remembered nothing the next morning.

Last night, when Jason went in, Jason told him to get up and Bryce walked over to the clothes basket laying in the middle of his floor. Jason thought it looked like he was going to pee in the basket so he quickly told him to go to the bathroom which Bryce did correctly this time.  But when he was done, he walked out of the bathroom and went right into Piper's room.  Again, can you imagine if he'd gotten into bed with her?  She would have had a fit!  Ha ha!  Jason corrected him again and he went back to bed without a peep and again, remembered nothing this morning.

He is so funny.  He keeps telling us to wake him up but I have assured him we thought he was awake when it was happening.  He really hasn't had any sleep walking incidents before but he does talk in his sleep sometimes - he's even giggled in his sleep a few times which is hilarious.

We always make sure he goes to the bathroom before bed but I think when he's had that much water that's just what's going to happen.  I prefer this over when he gets leg cramps which we have figured out must be his body's way of waking him up to go to the bathroom.  I thought they were growing pains but they always went away once he went to the bathroom.

He's a funny kid - I should try and video the next time it happens.

Unnatural Athlete?

I've said time and again that Bryce is a product of my genes in so many ways.  While people always point out that he has Jason's coloring, it's not totally "Jason's" since my brother and sister were also very blond and blue eyed too.  But other than the coloring, he is just.so.my family.  He's got my family's teeth/jaw (which is good since we didn't need orthodontics).  He's totally built like my brother to the point that I sometimes will call him Kevin - it's weird, I tell you.  He has my brother's hands and feet!  He is just so solid - something Jason was NOT.  Jason was tall, skinny, and spindly by age 7. I don't get the feeling Bryce is going to be terribly tall given that Piper has been taller at every age than he was.  Plus, if you look at him among his classmates, he is not one of the taller kids.  He's also a lot like my brother in that he's just such a lovable guy - just so touchy-feely and huggable.  He's loud like my brother was too.  Again things that Jason says he was not but I remember my brother being keenly.  He was a funny kid.  I adore my little brother so I guess that's why I love that Bryce is so much like him.  But unfortunately, with all these great genetics goes something that my family is kind of a low scorer in....sports.  I never had interest.  My mom never did either.  My dad played sports in high school but then, didn't everyone in small town America in the 1960's?  My sister is the most athletic of all of us but didn't really blossom until late high school and she's quite active now but didn't do any kind of team sports as a kid.  We all played musical instruments and were on academic/school involvement type activities.  My brother played a season of indoor soccer and two seasons of baseball before giving it up for Boy Scouts.  He did play some golf in high school and was pretty good but then, it's golf.  Very different than a team sport.  

Jason, on the other hand, played lots of sports.  Soccer and baseball and loved it.  He was decent too so I know he was hoping that Bryce would have the same ability.  And while we're only 2 years in, it's apparent he doesn't have the natural ability that other kids on the teams do.  However, he LOVES playing so we'll keep encouraging him.  I know a lot of what he loves about it is doing it with Jason.  They are definitely "buds" and he looks forward to the time they spend together.  (Even if it takes him forever and a lot of help to get into his uniform, right, Jason?)  He also loves being a part of a team and it almost brings me to tears to see him congratulating his fellow teammates and cheering them on.  He's always the first one to meet a teammate to tell him "great job" or "nice hit."  He loves hooting and hollering and gets into the game in that respect.  He'll give me a play by play after a game and loves telling me his perspective although I know a lot of his opinion is based off of what Jason says.  (Which is pretty cute in and of itself...he loves his daddy!)  

But what makes me sad is how hard he tries and how he's just not as successful as you'd hope he'd be.  Last night he mistakenly threw a ball he caught to first instead of third (he misheard Jason who was coaching out in left field).  He turned and kind of cried a little bit and hugged Jason.  That just about broke my heart.  But he recovered and went on.  He loves it and I'm happy he's continuing to do it.  He's clearly getting a lot out of it and I hope that if he keeps enjoying it that he'll get better too.  In soccer, especially, you can see he just lacks that "killer" instinct needed to really do well.  But he's only 7, so I'm not dooming him to athletic failure. I know Jason's continued support is a big factor for him and I know as long as Bryce wants to do it, he'll keep on helping out.  Jason has such great memories of the time he and his dad spent on the athletic fields together, I know Bryce will too.  Just keep on trying, buddy!  I love you so much and I am so proud of you!

Now the big question is what to do about the girls for the fall.  Caroline says she wants to play soccer and now Piper is saying that too.  However, when I told them it means they can't do any other activities (1 activity per kid is more than enough for what we can manage - heck, I don't know if we can manage that!!) they kind of got upset.  I do not want to get into the whole dance thing since it's a school year long commitment instead of half year/seasons like sports and I'm not a fan of the whole "girls in dance" thing.  I also know how fickle they can both me, especially Caroline.  And then you add in the fact that there are 3 kids, 2 parents with the potential to have some nights where 3 kids need to be in 3 places.  How the hell do people do this?????  I will not coach either.  (See the above part where I talk about my family's lack of athletic skill.)  I feel like we are barely keeping our heads above water right now with 1 kid in a sport that's a 3 hour/night, 2 nights a week commitment.  This is why I loved gymnastics - I could get both girls in at the same time and only go one place.  Then the damn place went bankrupt...I need to find a new place, perhaps.    I also saw at the new elementary school that they have a bunch of after school clubs for older kids and when I mentioned them to Caroline she got all excited.  One was a running club and the other was a math/science type.  Those would be perfect too.  Now I know why my parents had us in music lessons - that was our one activity and they just had to cart us to one lesson a week for an hour.  Well, aside from the fact that they wanted us to play an instrument.  I'm still trying to convince Caroline she should play guitar.  You know, like Taylor Swift.  She loves country music (yes, my child!) and makes up her own songs already.  Natural fit, plus the guitar is kind of awesome.  But no kid can see that.  

Okay, I need to stop the ADD type rambling.....3 kids, 3 activities, and a full time job - I don't know how we'll do this.

Sunday Sickies

Laying in bed just having woken up on Sunday morning, I thought I heard a weird cough that almost sounded like someone was throwing up.  But there was no rapid movement associated with it so I didn't really think anything of it and that perhaps Bryce was doing one of weird asthma-like, allergy coughs.  Well, within a few minutes Bryce came in to tell us he had indeed thrown up.  He had woken up and gone and gotten in bed with my mom to snuggle (his favorite) and all of a sudden he felt the urge and managed to make it into her trash can and then continued into the toilet.  Thankfully no messes to clean up and that there was no undigested food in his gut......so while that's a small victory, I was wondering what made him throw up.  He said he felt okay now and I just hoped that maybe it was a random thing because he can't get ANOTHER stomach virus within a week of recovering from another one, right?

WRONG!

He went down and laid on the couch and within an hour was throwing up again.  Clearly whatever hit him hit him late in the night because his belly had time to digest dinner before getting sick.  This was NOT the case with the last virus and made it ever so much more disgusting.  He threw up every hour or so for most of the morning.  Poor kid had a terrible case of the dry heaves.  I wiped the tears from his eyes as he stood there.  Broke my heart.  And while I felt sad for him, I was RAGING inside.  Raging.  How can we have another stomach virus in our house?  Didn't we pay the piper for the last one?  The last one lasted 5 days in all the people who had yet.  Yes, I was spared but it resulted in missing 3 days of work and having very sick kids in a cramped living space.  I couldn't believe our "luck."

Bryce continued to lay on the couch and refused even ice chips.  I wasn't terribly worried since it seemed this stomach bug was only of the barfing variety and I knew his gut needed a rest.  He last threw up before noon and he slept off and on for a few hours complaining of boredom and feeling rotten.  Finally, after 3pm and lots of complaining about his head hurting (probably mild dehydration) we started putting pressure on him to eat ice chips to see if he could keep them down.  He did and we then moved onto some Coke and then onto Jello.  By dinner time he even ate half an English muffin and more Jello.

Whew, this seemed to be the "normal" stomach bug variety that is fairly short lived!!!  After having what we had last time, I could not have handled another lingering one.

But even though it was short lived, I've always said the worst part of the stomach bug (so long as your child recovers quickly and isn't horribly sick) is the suspense and dread that goes along with it.  How long will it last?  Who else will get it?  If someone else is going to get it WHEN will they get it?  As a parent that is a lot of limbo.  Especially living with my parents and having all 3 kids in the same room and in a bunk bed situation.

I told Jason last night as I was getting into bed that I feel like we did the best we could to to prevent the spread of it.  Caroline and Piper stayed away from Bryce and played outside most of the day.  Every time Bryce got sick, I wiped everything down with Hydrogen Peroxide Lysol wipes that are supposedly one of the best for stomach viruses.  And then my mom and I had a glass of red wine with lunch....read it might help prevent it in adults.  (Good reasoning, huh?)

But with all that stomach virus suspense in our heads, neither Jason or I slept very well last night.  Piper, who was overly tired from all of her outdoor activity, was a restless sleeper and kept talking/crying in her sleep.  She knocked on the wall to be covered back up (ugh!) and then kept making noises to keep the other two kids awake.  Of course that made Jason and I wonder if she was getting sick.  Every little noise had us going to check since finding her covered in vomit almost 2 weeks ago still has us a little uneasy.

I fell asleep sometime after midnight and Jason after 1am which is NOT good when you wake up around 4:30.  (I was lucky to sleep until 6am.)  Needless to say we are dragging today but hopeful neither girl will fall.  But they will both be sleeping with trash cans or barf buckets in their bed for the next few days.

Hoping the new house is stomach virus resistant.  As a parent you know stomach viruses are just par for the course and generally when you get over one you figure it will be a while before you are hit again. Here's hoping that means we'll get a long respite this time.  Is there such thing as stomach virus karma?  Because if so, we should be bullet proof for at least 2 years.

Recovering

Bryce had a rough day.  More diarrhea and more throwing up.  In fact he last threw up last night around 7:30.  I was starting to worry it was going to last into the night but we got him into bed and he slept all night until 5am.  He came into bed with me complaining of a headache so I told him he needed to keep some Gatorade down before we could try giving him any medicine.  Thankfully he took a bunch of gulps of Gatorade and went back to sleep and woke up at 6am with me saying he felt better.  Whew.  Jason decided to stay home today since we weren't sure what his status would be and we didn't want to expose Jason's parents.  Bryce has had some toast and says his whole body feels better.  He was having a lot of stomach cramps yesterday and was just miserable.  And while I'm glad he's on the mend, now we sit and wait for the aftermath.  Will it spread?  If so, who is getting it and when?

Because of the way the kids are all sleeping in one room, Caroline and Piper would have no speedy way to get out of bed and make it to the bathroom.  In fact, if either one of them got sick in bed it would be a huge mess and would probably involve splattering barf on another kid in the room.  And if not that worse case, there is no way a middle of the night barfing incident would NOT wake up the other kids in the room like we were able to avoid when Bryce was sick since he sleeps on the trundle.  So with that in mind, both girls now have buckets and towels at the foot of their bed.  I am not messing around here.  Caroline's bed is hard to change in the middle of the day, let alone the middle of the night with barf on it.

Maybe my precautions will mean that neither of them get sick.  Let's hope so.  But I am keeping those buckets there for at least another week.  Incubation for stomach viruses are generally only a few days but since you never know what surfaces could be infected, I'm not thinking we're in the clear for a while yet.

I am back at work today and not feeling good myself although it's from the cold that Piper and Bryce are getting over and not a stomach virus. (Yet.)  It's kind of a lousy way for the kids to spend spring break.  Jason said the girls are bored.  I expected that.  It's not very warm out.  We really did expect to be in our house by spring break and didn't really plan for this week.  And since Jason and I are taking off a whole week at the end of April for moving, taking off now (planned vacation as opposed to sick time) is not happening.

Just like last week when I said to Jason that it was a good thing we weren't moving that week because of the snow and bad weather, I am saying the same thing about this week because of the sickness.

NOT April Fools

Bryce complained of a stomach ache last night at bedtime but based on how much candy he ingested yesterday, we figured that was all it was.  Well, the joke was on us because at 3:30am he walked into our room holding a trash can full of barf.  Fortunately a lot made it into that can but not all of it.  There was still quite a bit on the floor of his room.  And because all three kids are in that room, trying to clean it up without waking everyone was a feat.  And true to form, Bryce can't stop talking when he's upset about something.  Shh!!!!!

Thankfully, he only threw up 2 more times after that and has kept a Coke down but I can't say things are going well from the other end.  Thinking back, when the poor kid gets a stomach bug, he has never thrown up that often but has had long bouts of diarrhea that he does NOT handle well.  Even at 7 it really upsets him.  My mom's house does not smell very good today.  Thank goodness we can open windows.  

My worst fear of living at my mom's has come true....the dreaded stomach virus.  3 kids, 1 room, and my parents.  I do not want them to get sick and of all weeks....spring break when the kids are all home.  I don't want my IL's to get exposed either.  Bryce was around everyone yesterday but thankfully he did not handle the twins because of his cold.   The kids were supposed to go to my IL's again on Wednesday night but I am already thinking of cancelling that plan since the kids have come down with stomach viruses there before and I do not want to infect their house.  

I am already planning on putting a trash can on Piper and Caroline's bed for the next week since both of them do not have the ability to quickly get out of bed (C is on the top bunk and Piper has Bryce in the trundle right to the side of her).  Why do we always get stomach viruses in early spring?  WHY WHY WHY?  And while we rarely get a stomach bug that goes through all 5 of us, without fail, I am the one that always gets it.  No matter what.  Ew.  

I feel like dead woman walking.....sweet.  At least we're not at Disney World or moving this week, right?  

His Growing Strength

File this one under: Son Issues

Bryce is now 7 1/2 years old and we've recently had to start laying this line on him:

"Bryce, you don't know your own strength.  You need to go easy on your sisters!"

This is new territory for me.  We've never had this issue with Caroline.  Thin, kind of wispy, Caroline.  Yes, she's strong and can inflict injury (what kid can't?) but her brand is much different than Bryce's.

Ever since Bryce was little we noticed that he was SOLID.  Never fat (although he had the sweetest chubby cheeks as a baby), just solid as a rock.  Jason always remarked when he'd pick Bryce up as a toddler how solid he was and how different he felt than lifting Caroline.  Now that he's 7 1/2, he's still several inches shorter than Caroline but about the same weight.  But the weird thing is if you pick her up, she's easy.  If you pick him up, you wonder if you're giving yourself a hernia.  Funny how the same weight can be felt so differently.

In the summer, the kids LOVE having Jason throw them in the pool.  Piper is obviously easy and Caroline's not too hard for him either.  But Bryce?  Jason has a hard time lifting him out of the water.  Also, both girls can float on their backs easily (Piper can float for a ridiculous amount of time - it's amazing, frankly) but Bryce sinks like a rock.  Thank goodness he's a good swimmer although we had a lot more coaxing to do with him to get him swimming than we did with the girls.  Caroline was swimming without swimmies before age 4 and, Piper, well you know...age 2.  But Bryce was almost 5 before he was confident enough to swim by himself and I think a lot of that is because of his buoyancy.

Anyway, being that he's such a solid kid it should come as no surprise that I worry now when he gets physical with his sisters.  Most of the time it's when they are messing around he pounces on them or grabs on and is able to get them to the floor in seconds.  It's becoming obvious that his male genes are kicking in and overpowering them is easy.  He's not using it to his advantage, but it wouldn't take much more for someone to really get hurt, especially Piper since the two of them like to chase, wrestle, and get into pretend fight situations.  (Thank you Ninja Turtles.)

Bryce has always been my most physical kid.  He's a boy - I'm not surprised.  But the other funny thing about Bryce is that he would still love being carried around if I let him.  He loves to jump up into my arms for hugs and kisses.  He loves to snuggle and wrap himself around you.  Picking him up from a dead stand is almost impossible now so I will often sit him on a counter and hug him from there.  He loves to be held and loved.  And that is how he's been since the day he was born....some things don't change.  Although don't try hugging or kissing him at school because that is NOT okay anymore.

He's a sweet heart and completely passionate (which also explains his fiery temper) and it's just interesting to watch him grow in comparison to the girls.  I just hope we can teach him that he needs to be more careful as he gets older and stronger.

Bryce's Beauty Treatment

Laying in Bertie's bed with my sock hands
and my friend, Bettlebutt.

Earlier this week around bedtime I noticed that Bryce's hands were very rough and even chapped and red in places.  As a boy, I don't know how much he cared that they were rough, but he certainly complained about his hands hurting when I brought it to his attention.  I told him he needed to try Caroline's recent beauty regimen where she puts lotion on her hands before bed and then sleeps with socks on them to help them really absorb the lotion.

I assumed that Bryce would want NOTHING to do with it but instead he was very eager to try it.  He woke up the first morning and was so happy that his hands felt so much better but was mad that he still had some red spots.  I told him it was because his hands were really dry and they needed time to heal so he should repeat the process.  Well, he has...for three nights in a row!  He loves waking up in the morning and feeling how soft his hands are.

I think I've converted him.  In fact, Caroline still does this on a regular basis and this is the first winter that her hands don't feel like sandpaper.  (My hands never got this bad when I was a kid - I'm convinced it's because of all the hand sanitizer they make them use in school now...ugh, I HATE that stuff.)

Bryce's Quote of the Year

If you know Bryce, you know the boy can TALK.  And talk.  And talk.  Oh yeah and talk some more.  You get a very short respite in the morning between the time he wakes up and gets warmed up.  Generally never longer than 5 minutes but some days he wakes up ready to talk.  And then it doesn't stop.

Yesterday we were in the car driving over to my mom's and he just keeps on running his mouth and inciting drama with Piper.  Finally, Jason says, "Bryce, can you just stop talking for a few minutes?  Please?"

To that Bryce says, "But Dad, talking is my thing!"

And we laughed. And laughed.  Because OMG, yes, talking IS his thing!  Not only is it his thing, the fact that he recognizes it just made it so funny.  That boy....he can talk the leg of a chair but my goodness he says some funny things sometimes.

DUDE!

On Tuesday after the storm had passed, our neighbor who has a son Caroline's age and a daughter Bryce's age, called to ask if we could get the kids together.  Since it was raining, clearly they'd have to play inside and rather than having one person bear the brunt, we decided on a kid swap.  My girls went to her house and her son came to my house.  It was a win-win situation for all of us.  The girls had a ball together without the boys messing with them and Bryce and Joey had a great time not being interrupted by the girls.

When Joey first arrived, the boys decided to play Star Wars Wii since Joey had never played that game.  And that's when it started.....DUDE!  I swear, every third word out of Bryce's mouth was "dude."  Joey said it a lot too but not as much as Bryce and it's pretty clear that this is where Bryce got it from since he and Joey have been hanging out a lot more recently.

It really struck me as funny.  I was standing in the kitchen doing some cooking and it was all I heard.  I smiled every time he said it.  Joey was there for over 3 hours and I heard it continuously as they played Wii, Monster Trucks and then super hero action figures.

I guess that's out the 7-9 year old male set talk now.  But what's funnier to me is that as soon as Joey left, Bryce reverted back to non-dude language.  I don't think I've heard him say it since.  It just sounds so different from usual Bryce-speak.  I'm guessing it makes him feel more grown up or more "male" and like "one of the guys."  I know we all have different ways of speaking depending on our audience but it's just funny to hear it at such a young age.

My baby boy is growing up!

Sleepwalking Bryce

Apparently, Bryce has become a sleepwalker.  In the past few months, he's had a handful of incidents where he gets up shortly after going to bed (Jason and I have still been up) and he'll walk around and not really say anything.  A few weeks ago, Jason had just gotten into bed and Bryce came to our bedroom door and just kind of stood there looking around.  Jason didn't realize he was asleep and tried asking what he was doing and when he couldn't tell him, he directed him back to bed which he did on his own.  The next morning Bryce didn't believe us when we told him about it.

Last night, just before 10pm, we heard someone walking around upstairs but then nothing became of it.  When Jason went to go upstairs, he found Bryce laying on the living room couch sleeping.  Jason wasn't 100% sure he was sleeping so he kind of roused him and Bryce walked upstairs on his own and went to bed without any problems.  But again this morning Bryce had no recollection of being awake.

In fact, when you first tell Bryce that he was sleepwalking he gets all defensive about it but then the more we talk about it and the fact that it's kind of funny, he comes around and laughs about it.  He especially likes to hear Jason tell him about it for some reason.  I told him that the next time he does it that we'll take a photo of him to prove it.  He liked that idea.

I'm thinking the connection is that he only does it on the nights he is super tired and with having a lot of soccer games, I think that might be doing it.  I'm amazed he came down the steps without problems but worry that maybe he could fall too.

Piper also had a weird sleep crying incident last night too at about 9:30.  This is fairly unusual for her now but every now and then she'll really start crying in her bed like she's scared and when you go in she'll be seemingly wide awake but not making much sense.  I picked her up and cuddled her but she kept opening her eyes and looking at me.  This morning she didn't remember it.

Caroline swore this morning after hearing  Bryce and Piper's stories that she woke up and found her mp3 player on her pillow so she thinks she was listening to it in her sleep too.  Not sure if I believe that one, but it seems there are some strange sleep disturbances happening in our house right now.  Here's hoping it's not going to become a problem!

Love Notes

I have oodles of notes that Caroline left me after she went to bed from kindergarten through second grade - she doesn't write them as often anymore.  :(  When I was cleaning out my night stand a few weeks ago, I couldn't believe how many.  I kept most of them and packed them away - most of them tell me how much she loves me along with asking me to come and snuggle with her when I came to bed.  So cute!

After I was done cleaning out and packing them away, a random one surfaced.  I'm guessing it's from first grade and it says that she loves me signed "CH."  Caroline found it and laughed about it and then randomly it showed up stuck to my bedside table again.  (She liked that she wrote, "I have a sirprs." meaning that she has a surprise.) Bryce saw it and it must have sparked him because that next night, I came to bed and found this next to my old Caroline note:

It brought a tear to my eye - it was so cute.  Clearly, I will be keeping this one too.  I love that he signed his initials too and drew a little heart.

I love that they still express their love so openly.  And while they are getting older and leaving the little kid days behind, there are new parenting rewards each day as they grow.

Mr. Studious

Now that Bryce is in the first grade, he's experiencing a more academic workload.  Not that kindergarten wasn't heavy on learning, it just was a little less structured (purposely).  But now they sit at desks, have clear cut subjects and have homework based off of what they learned that day.  And with this new academic rigor, we are seeing another side to Bryce and how he's different than Caroline.  Both of them are smart kids but it's really interesting to me how differently they are wired.  

Here's an example of their differences.  Every night after they are done with their homework we check it over.  When we find mistakes/issues on Caroline's, she complains/whines/moans about fixing it and then will hastily make the correction and not care one iota about how neat it is.  She just wants it to be done.  But last night when I was checking Bryce's homework where they had to write different words to describe an orange via all the difference sense, he was proud to show it to me. (He had sounded out words like "sweet", "squishy", and "sour.")  None of them were spelled correctly but they were very close phonetically and I know that in the first grade they aren't worried about correct spelling for non-sight words as phonetics is more important at this stage.  But Bryce wanted to make sure they were 100% right.  He went over each word with me and painstakingly corrected his words.  He had written his lower case q backwards in the word "squishy" and was practically embarrassed when he realized he'd made the mistake as he was writing the word "quiet" on a different line.  I know that Bryce is a perfectionist so this shouldn't come as a surprise to me, but it really does make me smile to see how intent he is on getting it right.

And then at dinner when we talk about how are days are, Bryce is the one most likely to comment on the fact that there were times during the day when kids wouldn't be quiet so he could hear what the teacher was saying. "These kids keep talking when Ms. B is talking and if they don't stop no one can hear and we might miss that Ms. B said there is going to be a test and then we won't know about it and then we'll get all the answers WRONG!"  Somehow I doubt that first graders would only be told once about a test but I like his attitude - ha ha ha ha!  I had a hard time keeping a straight face as he went off on his rant.  Who knew Mr. Talkative was intent on hearing what someone else has to say?  (Although I know he's had some days where he gets in trouble for talking a little too much, but nothing really to worry about.)

It makes me curious what the future holds for Bryce.  I know that perfectionism can be overwhelming at time (Jason and I have our own issues with it) but I also know that it sets him up for excellence in the future too.  He reminds me a little bit of my sister in that way - the same sister who had straight A's from like third grade through all four years of college.  Smart as a whip but a lot of fun too.  I just love this kid to pieces and I'm loving watching him mature even if it does make me miss that little boy he once was.

Late Soccer

Jason finally got Bryce's soccer schedule last night.  After being told that he'd mainly have Saturday morning games we were a little surprised to see so many weeknight evening games.  We did them last year so that's not such a big deal but what I was concerned about was that FOUR of them are starting at 7:45pm on school nights!!!  Yep, 6-8 year old soccer with 7:45pm game start times.  Am I the only one that thinks this is problematic???

8 and older, maybe, but 6-8 seems a bit young.  Last year in the 6 and under clinic, they all started around 6 or 6:30.    And to add fire to my flame, he has a few games that are two days in a row, so a Tuesday night 6pm game and then a Wednesday night 7:45pm game.  What the heck?  (And mind you, we JUST got the schedule yesterday....typical for rec league and their lack of organization to get anything together sooner.)

Jason just shrugged his shoulders and asked "What are you going to do?"  And I guess he's right because while Bryce plays for one particular league, his games incorporate about 5 different leagues so basically it's not like we'd find another rec league in the general area that would have a better, more organized game schedule.

The girls actually start gymnastics this Saturday and I was able to get both of them in to 9am classes so we'll be done and out of there by 10am each week.  Bryce's sporadic Saturday morning games range in start times from 9:30 to noon.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much because the park where they have the games is fairly close to us and not a half hour away like it might be for some of other kids in other leagues.  And the place we take the girls to gymnastics isn't too far away either so on his early Saturday game we'll be able to scoot down the road to catch the end of the game.

Not that I'm planning to go to the 7:45pm games....Piper would be toast.  I guess those will be Jason/Bryce attended games only.  Thankfully there are enough Saturday and 6pm weeknight games that I won't feel bad missing the late ones.

If he's playing at 7:45pm, I can only imagine how late some of the older kids might be playing.  I guess we'll find out in 2 years, huh?

Birthday Pie

I think Bryce had a good birthday even considering he had to go to school.  And on that note, as I was getting ready to go to school that night I realized that I COMPLETELY didn't even consider taking in anything for his class.  I mean, the thought didn't even occur to me.  I think because this week has been a bit crazy with it being the first week of school and several other evening commitments.  I'm hoping that this means I can exempt myself from doing anything for Caroline on her birthday this year.  Heh heh heh!    

After dinner we did gifts and Piper presented him with a card she made on her own - without anyone even telling her to make it.  She came to Jason earlier in the day and said she'd made something and he asked if she wanted to put it in an envelope.  He wrote Bryce's name on a piece of paper and she copied it!  I'm so proud of how hard she tries! 

We got him a Wii game, Crayola set and......wait for it......a long mirror for his door.  I remembered in the store him saying once that he'd like a mirror in his room too and saw some that didn't require any drilling - it hung over the top of a door.  I totally didn't expect him to be very excited about it but as it turns out he was thrilled!  I got the biggest hug for a mirror.  He couldn't wait for me to hang it up.  I love when simple (cheap) gifts make a big splash.

And here's my boy with his apple pie - by request.  No gray icing this year.  Funny too because my sister who celebrates a birthday two day after him always requests a peach pie for her birthday.  Late August must be the pie birthdays.

Overall, he had a good birthday.  I just can't believe he is 7!

Happy 7th Birthday, Bryce!

At Nana's for an early birthday celebration

Bryce is 7!  Seven!  SEVEN!!!  How did my baby boy go and turn 7 on me?  How did he turn into a big kid from this so quickly?

I'm not sure, but I've got to skeedaddle on home - birthday dinner complete with apple pies!  Yes, PIES.  I made a regular pie and a bunch of mini-ones for my boy.  He didn't want cake, he wanted PIE!  That's my boy!  More later.....

Back to School: Year of the B's

This year in school, all three kids will have a teacher whose name/last name starts with the letter "B."  Piper's teacher in her pre-k will be Ms. BJ, and both Caroline and Bryce's teacher's last names start with the letter B - Caroline's teacher's first name even starts with B!  So I guess I'll have to call Caroline's teacher Ms. Bo and Bryce's Ms. Be since I don't like to put last names on my blog.

Piper's pre-k will be three mornings a week through the local rec council at an elementary school nearby.  She won't start until September 10 and hasn't met her teacher yet but I was in last week to pick up her paperwork and meet her teacher.  Piper was so excited to hear all about her new school and her new teacher. I told her what her teacher's name was and later in the day she was asking me about her teacher, Ms. Bluejay.  I got a good giggle out of that one!  Her back to school night won't be until after Labor Day so she's still got some time before starting, but she will start her bi-monthly speech sessions with the wonderful Ms. Patty next week.  I'm so thankful that my mom and MIL will be able to help with Piper's pre-k this year.  Both Caroline and Bryce did daycare "pre-k" because I was working and didn't have another option for them but I think since Piper has been home since she was one between my mom and MIL, I think this will be a good transition for her.  She's such a friendly kid but could use some structure and something that feels like real school.  I didn't even know about it until recently when my neighbor told me about it and was so grateful when she helped get me in the "back door" by giving her spot to me instead of having to go through lottery like most people.  

As for the other two kids, last night was Meet your Teacher/Back to School Night.  I can not get over how excited the kids were to be there.  First we went to Bryce's class to see Ms. Be.  Caroline had Ms. Be for first grade too so this was a welcome back for us.  We were especially happy to hear that not only was Ms. Be going to have a smaller class (they transitioned to four first grades this year) but Bryce was in the highest achieving class.  He's even sitting next to Allie, one of our neighbors that we like so much.  It was a little difficult trying to listen to Ms. Be with Piper being a bit difficult.  She was tired and did not want to sit quietly and Jason ended up taking her out in the hallway toward the end.  She wasn't being truly bad, just disruptive to the other families trying to hear about first grade.  

Caroline was also being a little bit silly as you could tell she was feeling her third grade Cheerios.  She was quiet but kept dancing around and posing and saying things like, "I'm a third grader!"  Oh the drama.  She could not wait to get to her classroom as she was very excited about me meeting her teacher.  Finally, Ms. Be was done with her presentation and we headed down the hall to Caroline's class.  Caroline pranced and danced the entire way.

One of the weird things about their school is that it was built in the 1970's which was when there was a STUPID trend going on about building schools with semi-open floor plans.  Seriously, I want to meet the crackhead who thought this up and that it would aid student learning.  The high school nearby that was built around the same time actually has it somewhat too so you can see it was clearly some nouveau way to build school.  Anyway, at the elementary school, all the kids in grades Pre-K through second grade are in standard, four wall classrooms.  However, the library is kind of free form and open as are the 3rd through 5th grade classes.  Basically, there are 3 GIANT classrooms that are divided up into four smaller classrooms with 3/4 walls.  I will say they've done some things to make them quieter with carpeting and other noise absorbing materials and typically the older kids have the potential to be quieter, but still, it's not closed off.  Just weird!  

Anyway, aside from that it was really great meeting Ms. Bo.  Although I have to say, OMG, she's YOUNG.  She's got to be about 11-12 years younger than Jason and me.  I guess that's one of the things that starts making you feel old - your kid's teacher is younger than you.  Not that it's a problem - she seems to have it together and I'm hopeful Caroline will have another great year.  But it was interesting as she was going over her presentation about how different 3rd grade will be from 2nd grade because I truly believe that Caroline's teacher from last year, Ms. A, did an excellent job of preparing her class for the next grade.  While the grading scheme will be different this year (real grades of A,B,C instead of those weird CN, P, etc), the way Ms. Bo will be running the class will be very similar to Ms. A - very third grade.  We stopped by to see Ms. A on our way out and I told her what a great job she did preparing the kids for the rigor of third grade.  I absolutely adore Ms. A and can't thank her enough for her hard work last year. (And this is where I chastise myself for not getting a photo of Caroline in her classroom but Ms. Bo hadn't assigned desks yet so we just sat wherever we wanted.)

With all of our homeroom teachers met, we wandered around saying hi to everyone - it's nice having so many of the teachers and staff know you.  The kids love their specials teachers and they were all so happy to see them.  Our last stop before we left was to see Ms. R, Bryce and Caroline's kindergarten teacher.  She was so happy to see them and was so touched that Bryce gave her a hug on his own.  In fact, when he spotted her walking down the hall, he stopped and got the biggest smile on his face - it was the cutest thing.  She has such a special place in my heart after teaching both of the big kids - I just love her!

So a good back to school night and Caroline is PUMPED about school on Monday and being on of the "big kids."  Bryce is less enthused but I think that's part of his act as he doesn't like to show his excitement, much like his father.

Bryce's Birthday

Bryce turns 7, gulp, NEXT WEEK.  How can that have been 7 years ago?  How can my precious, kissable boy be almost 7???  I don't want him to turn into a stinky, sweaty boy.  When will that happen?  Can I get a warning please?  He's still got the most kissable cheeks and lets me hug him (in private) as much as I want.

Anyway, his birthday is sneaking up on me in multiple ways.  I have no idea what to get him or how to celebrate it.  This will be his first birthday where he has to go to school and thankfully it's the third day of school this year instead of the first (like it would have been last year had it not been for the staggered kindergarten start and Hurricane Irene aftermath).

In the past, we've done fun things for him to celebrate the day:  Ironbirds game, National Aquarium, Urban Pirates but this year I've got nothing.  Clearly we won't be doing an actual celebration on the day with it being a Wednesday but I'm thinking maybe I should throw something together for him this weekend.  I know that on 9/1 we'll be celebrating my sister's 8/31 birthday at my mom's house and could easily roll some birthday fun into that day too with my side of the family but I want to include Jason's side too.

I asked Bryce what he wanted for his birthday and the only thing he can come up with (by request from his grandmothers, aunts and uncles) is the Wii Harry Potter game (years 5-7).  That's it.  My mom took him shopping on Saturday morning and bought him some new fall clothes and new tennis shoes so she's set but my MIL and the aunts were asking me this weekend.  What do kids who have everything need?  (And I can't come up with any "gifts w/o wrapping" ideas either.)

We've been to so many different kid places in the area recently.  He did say he wanted to go out to Bertucci's so that's an option.  (Why my kids love that place so much, I do not understand.)  I just wanted to do something a little more exciting for him.  Caroline always has lots of ideas so at least I don't have to worry about her come December.

Bad Day Bryce

Bryce continues in his difficult post-kindergarten phase.  Yesterday was a BAD day for Mr. Bryce.  He woke up at 5:15am and got into bed with me.  I knew right away this was not a good start to the day for him.  He'd had a tough bedtime and clearly it had carried over into the morning.  Before I left for work at 7:30, he'd already been to time out twice and had been fighting with Piper incessantly.  I blame him for those fights because he is the one that put her into a bad mood by waking her up.  I hoped that when I left with Nana and BigDad taking over that things would settle down as they often do.

I didn't hear anything from my MIL through the day and assumed everything was okay.  I knew that they'd gone swimming though because Caroline had emailed me in the middle of the day to tell me that they did.  But when I got home, Jason's first comment to me was, "Did my mom call you today about Bryce?"  Um, no.  Grrrreat.

Apparently he'd given my MIL a very hard time in the morning getting ready to go swimming and he was so difficult that my MIL punished him by making him stay home with my FIL and not be able to watch TV.  My poor FIL couldn't watch the afternoon baseball game and by mistake my MIL took his lunch with her to the pool.  (Poor guy!)  But they made Bryce's punishment stick and for that I am truly grateful.  My MIL is very good with my kids and I appreciate that she realizes that she's got to be tough on them when they act up.

And based on Bryce's behavior, his punishment continued through the evening with no playing outside.  He made dinner difficult to refusing to eat it and we stuck to our guns and he eventually sat down and ate.  He was pretty much a mess the entire evening though and ended up in time out again for harassing Piper.

Thankfully bedtime proved to be okay and he woke up at his normal time this morning so here's hoping yesterday is in the past and today will be better.  I can't express how much I appreciate my MIL and FIL's patience with him.  I know how much they love him and what a good kid he can be on his normal days.  Plus I know my MIL's philosophy that with three kids one of them is always going through a phase so I know she realizes that this too shall pass.

Blond 'fro Bryce

Ugh.  I'm just so spent today.  Stayed home because my BIL's wedding is this evening and didn't want to rush and wanted to give my IL's the day off.  Of course, I think I'm fighting something off.  I've had a headache for days, my eye is a mess, and I just feel completely run down.  Thankfully, Caroline spent the night at my MIL's and will come down with them this afternoon.  I thought it would be a nice morning and I could go and run some errands with the younger two.  Clearly, I thought wrong.

Initially, I was going to go to the grocery store and forgo Peapod.  Thank goodness I thought better of that last night and put my order in.  So that meant all I had to do was send a package and get Bryce's haircut.  We had appointments on Tuesday evening but because he was so sick, I couldn't take him and our hair lady isn't cutting hair again for a week or so because she's going on vacation.  I figured I could just take him down to SportsClips where my dad goes and he'd be fine.  He NEVER gives Ms. Pam any problems.  None.  And let me tell you, the kid needs a major haircut.  It's a blond 'fro.  I had hoped to get him sheared by this evening since we'll be taking photos.

When I pulled up to the shop, he started protesting.  I figured he'd be okay with it because that's where my dad goes.  Nope.  He protested as I walked in, as I signed him up and when the lady called his name.  She was very nice and asked him to come back so they could talk.  No go.  I looked at her and wanted to spare her the agony of a song and dance so I just thanked her and we left with me secretly hoping that would be the motivation for him to change his mind.  Nope.  Bad attitude.  I got in the car and let him have it.  I told him I was tired of his bad attitude and negativity and that he was spending a long time in his room when we got home.  Of course all it did was make him try and blame EVERYTHING on Piper.  She's the reason he's sick which is why he couldn't get his hair cut and why he had to go to the new place today.  I'm so sick of it. His negativity is overwhelming sometimes.

He's upstairs by himself now and I'm glad because I'm beyond frustrated with him.  I told him his next hair appointment isn't until the end of August and he can grow it long for all I care.  He can talk to his father about his hair if he wants it cut.  I just don't have the energy and I really don't care how his hair looks.

I realize that he's not completely himself yet (had a fever last night in the middle of he night) and this is partially coloring how he's acting but he's not terribly different from his usual funks so I'm not convinced this is all part of his illness.  These are the days when I realize how difficult he is and such a typical middle child.  Sigh.

Good News/Bad News

The Good News:  Piper saw Dr. Q yesterday and he believes she just needs a stronger antibiotic. (Apparently places like Minute Clinic and Patient First often don't prescribe a very strong antibiotic and while it works fine for some - Caroline - it doesn't for all.)  She has started on it and seems better already.  No fever since yesterday.  Whew!

The Bad News:  Bryce complained of his throat hurting last night before bed and woke up this morning with a sore throat, a 101.5 fever, and just threw up.  Jason left work to take him to the doctor's already.

The only thing I will say is that Bryce did say some kind of rude things about the girls both being sick last week and to say that maybe karma is biting him in the butt isn't far fetched - not that I want him to be sick but when you say "good" in response to one of your sisters being sick and then complain incessantly about the other one being sick you're asking for it.

This is one of those times when you realize the difference of having 3 kids versus less.  Normally, I don't even consider having three that hard but when something spreads through slowly, it's really hard and you feel like it won't end.  It's times like these I'm glad I don't have more!  I feel like we're starting the same pattern that we had in my family when I was a kid.  One kid gets strep and it spreads.  It didn't stop in my house until I had my tonsils out and then the strep mostly stopped.  (I was the infector!)  It's also hard when you have a younger one that is sick too.  Caroline and Bryce mostly keep to themselves when they're sick but Piper was laying all over me, drooling, and miserable.  It's one thing about them being little that is the hardest.  She's also the only one that still refuses medicine when she's not feeling well.

I am going to have Jason ask Dr. Q what he thinks Jason and I should do should one of us start with strep symptoms.  Does he want to see us or would he be willing to call in a prescription.  He's pretty good about that kind of stuff.  Normally, I wouldn't be overly concerned but given that my BIL is getting married on Thursday and having their reception on Saturday, this isn't exactly a good time for us to come down with strep.  I'm scheduled to be off on Thursday/Friday already but I don't want to spend it being sick.

And as usual when something is spreading through my kids I feel like maybe I'm getting it but can't tell if I'm really becoming symptomatic or I'm getting it.  When the kids have had stomach viruses I always feel a little queasy.  And in all the times one of them has had it, I've ended up with it.  And now since the girls were diagnosed with strep, my throat has been irritated off and on.  If I hadn't had strep last year, I wouldn't even consider that I'd get it since I hadn't had it since 1989 when I had my tonsils out but now I know I'm not immune.  Please don't let me get sick.  I was SO sick when I had it last year.

ETA @ Noon:  Bryce saw the doctor and while Dr. Q doesn't think it's full fledged strep yet, it's brewing and he went ahead and gave him the prescription.  I also had Jason ask what he wanted to do if either of us came down with it and he said just to call him and he would call in a prescription for us.  Whew!  So at least now I have the peace of mind that if I do get sick, I can just get the medicine quickly!  Thank you, Dr. Q.  Now to get Bryce on his antibiotics and get him healed!!