The Backpack (continued ...)

I hunted all morning looking for his requested black Spiderman backpack. Finally at Target I found it! This is really not the time of year to be looking for backpacks, they're mostly sold out or on clearance. Since Target is almost a half an hour from our house, I called to have one of my sisters pop in and make sure they carried this very special backpack. Sure enough, they had one left! She reservd it for us at the customer service desk. I felt bad for asking her to go out of her way, but I dreaded the idea of loading both kids up after school, driving across town only to discover they no longer carried it.

Before getting to Target, we had to stop for gas and to drop off some recycling. Logan about crawled out of his skin with excitement! He could hardly stand the waiting. We went straight for the customer service desk and there it was. Black Spiderman Backpack.

"I don't like that one."

Seriously?! Who is raising this kid? He sure needs to learn some manners!!!

Once again the hunt was on. We spent 20 minutes just trying to figure out WHERE they sold backpacks in Target. We finally found them, and fortunatley they had a large inventory still. Even better, they were all on clearance! I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of the over commercializd characters you see all over childrens' products. I try to avoid buying things with Spiderman, Batman, Transformers on them, but sometimes it's just not worth the fight. I had already decided I would give in this time and find him a nice backpack without a superhero for next year.

OR, maybe I could try, bribery. "If you get this backpack I'll get you a lunch box to go with it." And without a second thought, he took the bait. Fortunately the lunch boxes were also on clearance (I made sure of that before I made the offer). We ended up with a very nice backpack for $9.99 and an insulated lunch bag WITH water bottle for only $3!!! Together they were cheaper than the black spiderman backpack anyways, so everyone left happy!

On the way home Logan told me he never wanted a new backpack. He wanted to use this one forever. I have a feeling he'll be changing his tune come August.

*Update: Logan is home sick today. He came down with a fever last night after dinner. He was shaking like crazy in his sleep, it scared me a bit. He's fine today. Of course they have to be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school, so he's hanging out with Dad today. He's doing so well, he's already found time to break ... yes, break his new backpack!!! It's still usable, it's only the decorative string on the front.

The Backpack

Sunday night we had a meeting with our local Down syndrome group. It was a great meeting, they provided babysitters while we listened to some information on financial planning for a child with special needs. We left feeling pretty, um, distraught ... Seems doing nothing isn't working well for us, so we're going to be doing something very soon. I'll definitely be posting more about this as I learn more, because EVERY parent of a special child needs to know this stuff.

After the meeting, one of the families had donated some gifts for our kids to take home. The gifts were for the kids with Down syndrome, and also their siblings. Logan was thrilled, and he actually sat down in front of the gift table and removed his shoes and socks so he could wear the new spiderman socks he picked off of the table! The kid has little self control.

He also found a backpack he fell in love with. There were two actually, one was Spiderman, and the other featured Lightening McQueen from the movie Cars. It was a difficult decision, but ultimately the Cars backpack trumped Spidey b/c it came with a matching lunch box. All of the boys backpacks were a small size, but Logan wanted one so badly he didn't care. I was secretly excited b/c I knew that a new backpack was inevitable in the coming weeks. HIs old one was literally hanging on by a thread and it had become so dirty, no extra heavy duty wash could get it clean.

He moved his folder and papers from his old bag to the new backpack as soon as we got home, and he admired the bag and it's matching lunch box all day on Monday, awaiting school on Tuesday. He did ask me a few times if the bag was for preschoolers, or if it was too small, but after seeing it on his back, I thought it looked okay. I reassured him it would be perfect for Kindergarten and we would get him a bigger one for First grade.

Tuesday morning he woke immediately when his alarm sounded, which doesn't happen often. He got dressed and straightened up his hair without prompting (yelling). He ate lunch quickly and was excited to catch the bus and show his friends his new bag. While I was fixing Chelsea's hair he even began fixing his own lunch! I was so impressed I helped him finish so he could take a cold lunch in his new lunch box.




Logan caught the bus as usual, and I drove Chelsea to school. After leaving her in her classroom, I popped in to say goodbye to Logan. He was sitting quietly in his seat and as I got closer, I noticed his eyes were red. I asked him what was wrong, and he immediately burst out in tears. "The kids were making fun of my bag and said it was small."

Ouch. (This is where I had to hold back my mommy emotions. No, I couldn't reach across the table and ask the kid next to him why she would knock down his new bag that he was obviously so proud of. No, I couldn't lay my head down and cry right along with him either, a much as I wanted to.)

Thank goodness Kindergarten teacher saves the day! She saw the disturbance and intervened. As soon as the perpetrator was confronted she also burst into great big alligator tears. It was quite a scene for 9am in the Kindergarten room.

Mommy rule #284, do not try to solve your childs' bullying issues by offering to buy him something.

Yes, I caved. It was my internal instinct. "Logan, It's okay, do you want to go get a new backpack after school?" I know, I know, that's absolutely the last thing I should have done, and I realized that as soon as I had said it to him. It did however seem to dry up the tears rather quickly. My poor kid, he'll never be able to deal with social problems on his own. I really need to learn to butt out!

The damage was done, I had promised him a new backpack. Before I left school he told me he specifically wanted a black Spiderman backpack. I went home, and spent the morning searching for backpacks with the black Spiderman.

To be continued ...


(Chelsea doesn't like when I try to take pictures of her brother and not her!)

My Baby

Don't even ask about the paper plate. It's a family tradition ;)





Not such a baby anymore! I can't believe I sent my first born off to Kindergarten today. You know, it's bitter sweet. I'm so sad, I love him so much and I could sit around loving on him, reading books and playing games all day ... if he'd let me. He just gets too bored and has to be going going going all day long. That's why I think school will be good for him. He's ready for a little bit more stimulation and for some quality peer interaction.

Can you guess who cried first. It may not be who you think. Logan. Yep, poor kid sat quietly in the gym with his fellow Kindergarteners with the look of sheer fear on his face. Daddy, Chelsea and I sat on the sidelines watching and offering support. The longer he sat watching everyone, the more his little mind started wandering and he looked at me with tears in his eyes, "I want to go home!" I sat with him for a little and tried to introduce him to a couple of boys sitting close by, but he was uninterested. When I stood up to ask the teacher a question, he lost it. I turned around and he had run up to Daddy, thrown his arms around him and buried his head in Dad's chest. Daddy was fighting his own tears all the while reassuring him he would have a great time in Kindergarten.

The teacher let all the parents walk back to the room with the kids (I think she really just wanted us to come to carry all the supplies for them, b/c she kicked us out pretty quickly.) I wanted to stay and snap a few more pics, but I figured I better not get myself in trouble on the first day. So I tiptoed to the otherside of the room (camcorder running) and said my last good bye and blew one more kiss. Logan looked up at me, eyes red and full of tears. He didn't want me to go. Wow. That was soooo hard for me. I was the last parent though, I didn't have a choice. It was time ... So I hurried down the hall and around the corner so I could peek in the back door at him. For my own sanity, I stood and watched until I was sure he was comfortable and focused on something new. I stood there for about 15 seconds.

Logan, not so sure about this Kindergarten stuff. He's so serious.

Chelsea, not so serious.


Here's an end of day shot. He was much happier when I went to pick him up!


Logan and Ms. Jacobs!


Do I need him more than he needs me? Maybe. He's so grown up. How did this happen? If you're wondering what I did with myself all day ... er ... the whole two hours he was in school ... I tackled the junk drawer. Ewwww!


P.S., Julia I can't find your email address, please email me! Thanks.

The Day Before Kindergarten

We sent summer out with a bang. First we had to take care of a well needed cleaning (I know, not so exciting, but Logan was pretty thrilled about bubble gum toothpaste!). Can you believe it was his first cleaning ever? What a champ, no tears, no complaints, in fact he complied beautifully. He was so good I had to give in to the spinning power ranger tooth brush. When the hygentist turned on the bright light she asked if he needed sunglasses b/c it was so bright? Uh, yeah! He thought that was great!



Guess who sat in her stroller like a perfect little angel during the cleaning?!


Then what's better than eating ice cream at McDonalds play place with your girlfriend? These two will definitely be jealous when they meet new people in Kindergarten!


Of course sissy needed ice cream too!


Here's the whole crew after a busy day playing and eating! Logan and Abby have been having little disagreements lately so I told Logan we were going to go on playdates without them when they start Kindergarten. He didn't like that idea!

The Night Before Kindergarten

Whew, I'm finally back. Thank goodness for scheduled posts right?! Well it's the Night before Kindergarten and all through this place, the supplies are all packed even the new pencil case ... okay, so I'm not so good, but there is a book called The Night Before Kindergarten. So cute, we've read it the last three nights in a row! Logan was running around the house like a giddy teenage girl tonight. He's been in bed for a couple of house, but I doubt he's sleeping still. He got a new alarm clock so he won't oversleep, and that was the highlight of his week.

I'll admit, the thought of it makes me well up a bit. I'll likely be the parent with tears in her eyes tomorrow morning. I'll leave b/c I know it's the right thing to do, not because I want to. If I could, I would stay all day with him. Watching over him, making sure nobody is mean and that the teacher listens to what he has to say. But I can't. It's time to let go. **sigh**

On a lighter note. Mommy will have a little bit of freedom in the coming weeks. I can hardly believe it. I'm planning in my head what Chelsea and I will do together. So things may not be as interesting, but will by no means be boring. Chelsea will continue to keep this momma hoppin.

There's so much left to say, a lot I need to tell, but not tonight. I'm not feeling well (a little pre-Kindergarten jitters!) The job, well ... not much luck. If I'm not mistaken, the person in charge of hiring hung up on me yesterday just after I introduced myself. Could we have been disconnected? Possibly, but highly unlikely. And what about the movie Tropic Thunder? More on that later as I don't have much fight in me right now, but please, please, just don't do it. It's an insulting disguisting movie that attacks people with disabilities, including my darling Chelsea. Just makes me sick, please don't waste your money, or encourage such prejiduce.

Kindergarten

The things we do to send our kids to Kindergarten. Would you believe it takes FOUR immunizations to get your kid into school?! I couldn't believe it, I thought maybe one new shot, but nope, a whopping F-O-U-R! Do you think my 5 year old was excited about that, um, no. It took three of us to hold him down. There were two nurses, they were speedy and efficient. They counted one, two, three, and in unison, gave the first two shots. Then again, one, two, three, and the last two were done! Logan screamed at them. Told them to "stop it!" with intimidating sincerity. This kid has a serious temper, I wonder where he got it from?

We talked about some of his behavioral issues with the doctor, and our pediatrician kindly reminded me of the following. One, his little sister has special needs, two, he lost a grandfather just last year, and three, his sister and mother have been living at the hospital because, four, his sister has cancer (in remission of course!) Oh, yes. That could be the root of some of his problems. We're going to see if things don't begin to resolve themselves as we move into a more "normal" phase of life and he starts kindergarten next month. I sure hope so!

Logan's five year old stats?
*** weighing in at 46 pounds (75th percentile)
*** 44 inches tall (75th percentile)

And he is now immune to the chicken pox ... again ... for the next few years anyways ... until they have to do a booster of the booster, ... again. (Can you see me rolling my eyes?)

We took him to have blood drawn to test his lead levels. He's never had it tested and with Daddy's line of work, we thought it would be a good idea to check it out. He screamed at the lady in the lab too. In his most sincere, crabby voice he told her, "get away from me!" He tried to run out of the room, but I caught him and carried him back in. I told him this time that he needed to relax and not tense up or it would hurt. Like the big boy he is, he sat in my lap and relaxed his arm. I held his other arm tightly and told him to watch Daddy and Chelsea. Of course opted to watch the needle. He cried as she stuck him, and demanded, "take it out!" Once she was in, he stopped crying and looked at us in shock. It didn't hurt. She didn't even find the vein at first and had to move it around for a minute, and all the while he chatted with us. He was so proud that it didn't hurt and he didn't cry while the blood was coming out.

My brave little boy. All of this so he can go to Kindergarten ... or was it because I promised him ice cream? Double dipped chocolate ice cream cone with sprinkles. He was in heaven, ... as was his sister ... who had ice cream all - over - her - face!!!