Me & My Boys: June 2013

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Josh is selling a lot of his old video game systems and games on Craigs List - he has a buyer on hand for the old Ninetendo ones so he just had to pull them out of the garage and test them out last night! It was a great excuse to show Zane sort of how things were when we were kids and playing video games! Personally, I think they were a lot easier for him to grasp then the controlers and such now days - but then again, he rarely plays any video games, so that's probably why! Anyway - they had fun and I thought it was too cute not to take a picture of!

When I got to Zane's school to pick him up yesterday, this is what he looked like - cracked me up! He said that he and some other boys got "too hot", so they decided to just wear their undershirts!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Twin Falls

Josh had the bright idea to head out and hike Twin Falls Saturday as soon as he got home from work that morning (around 7:30 a.m.)! Its so nice being so close to these hiking trails now - we can get there before the crowds and get out before lunch! This was both of the boys first hike and they both did awesome! Landon hiked the entire way up and most of the way back down - but did insist on being carried a little on the way down! Zane fought quite a few low blood sugars both up and down the hike - but took them all in stride and did a great job!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Father's Day

Happiest of Father's Days to my wonderful baby daddy! You truly are these boys' Superhero!

End of Preschool Celebration

Zane had his end of the year Preschool celebration yesterday at Newcastle Beach Park! It was also when the kids would be giving their handmade gifts to their daddy's for Father's Day. Josh being the awesome dad he is - he sacrificed a lot of his daytime sleeping and surprised Zane by showing up! I had already warned Zane that daddy probably wouldn't be there and the he could just give the gift and we'd give it to daddy when he woke up later. Zane was so happy when he saw daddy! Thanks for making his day babe! Zane and many of the other kids will be continuing through the summer at Newcastle Montessori, but some will not - so this was also a chance to say good-bye to those who he won't see again. He's learned so much here - just love this school and wish I had found it sooner!

Zane and his teacher Miss Janell

Landon - Zoo Trip

Zane and I had a few things to do yesterday that unfortunately didn't/couldn't accomodate Landon joining us - since Josh is working graveyard now - I was in a bind on who could help me with watching Landon. One of my coworkers doens't live too far from us and she has a granddaughter the same age as Landon so I asked if she was up for watching the little man. She was elated to! She has been waiting for this day to come for weeks and had lots of fun plans made for Landon and Priscilla.

She was kind enough to send me pictures throughout the day - looks like they had a blast. Rita said that the kids got a long great and she had the best time ever with them. She let me know she's up for watching him anytime - be careful for what you ask for Rita!!

Pirate in Training

When Zane had his yearly eye exam in April it was discovered this his left eye had very poor vision compared to his right eye - we are talking like 4-5 line difference on the eye chart. His eye doctor gave us a new prescription for glasses with the left lens being quite a bit thicker than the right to accomodate the difference in vision between the two eyes. We were told to wear these glasses all of the time and to check back in 6 weeks. That brings us to last week when he had his check back appointment. Sadly there was no change. Zane was diagnosed with amblyopia which in laymen's terms is a "lazy eye". Due to his left eye being so much worse off in the vision department, his brain has basically decided to only use the right (good) eye. He does not have a "droopy" eye like many "lazy eyes" are...but it could easily get that way the longer his brain doesn't use the eye and overcompensates with the right eye. Since I've been asked by our family a lot, I wanted to make it clear that this has NOTHING to do with his Diabetes. Yes, there can be complications to his vision/eyes due to his Diabetes IF it is not controlled properly, but thankfully, we are in GREAT control of his Diabetes and don't for-see any complications in his future. His doctor has commented that he has VERY healthy eyes!

To make sure he doesn't develop the "droopy" eye and to retrain his brain to again use his left eye, he needs to do "Patch Therapy". For 2 hours a day he has to wear a patch over his right eye (the good eye) and only use his left eye. To make this the most effective, he needs to be doing "detailed" things during this (so, not just watching TV), to really strain the brain to use that left eye to the best of its ability. We have dubbed these activities during Patch Therapy as "Patch Projects" - the best things per the doctor are putting together Legos, playing computer/video games, puzzles, writing, reading (when he is able to) etc. Thankfully, these are all things Zane loves to do. But regardless of these tasks being things he loves to do, this whole process has taken some convincing, bribery and strategy on Josh and I'd parts. When Zane first heard from his doctor what "patch therapy" was, he broke down on the floor of the office crying - BROKE.MY.HEART to say the least. I was so angry about it, so angry that he had to do this - so much so, I almost said "no-way, not doing it". Yes, there are many more things in life that can/are worse, but I still feel like this kid cannot go to a medical appointment without something being wrong. I was having a pity party in my head - but I got over it as quickly as I could and picked Zane up and gave him some pep talks. By the time we left his appointment, he was "ok" with it. Thankfully we can split up the 2 hours a day and he is NOT supposed to do this at school (thank God)... right now he does an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon/evening. He will have to do this 7 days a week for 2-3 years (that's the real bummer), but we have our next check-back appointment in December to see if this is working (God, I hope so).

After his appointment we headed to Target where I bought him a new Lego set (this is where the bribery came in). He wanted one of the big ($40-$50) sets and even though my guilt meter was on high alert - I decided to use this "want" of his to form a strategy (and more bribery)...I told him he could get a smaller one today and I would make him a sticker chart and when it was full, he could pick out a big Lego set - he had to earn it. So every night after his 2nd hour, he puts a sticker on his chart. He counts down the days every night until he get his Lego.

We are very lucky that Zane is such an adaptable kid and pretty much just rolls with whatever punches are thrown at him - but that doesn't mean this new chapter hasn't posed its own challenges. We have had a couple of meltdowns, but for the most part he has been great about it! I don't think he understands the concept of how long he's going to have to do this, but I have told him, it will be until he's probably 7 or 8 and so far he's been ok with it - hopefully that continues!

Floater

Zane had his last swim lesson of the session last Wednesday - he will start up again in July. Swim lessons have always been a challenge for this boy - but he made leaps and bounds this last session (helped that he had a great and very patient instructor) - we are very proud of him. We look forward to what he accomplishes next time!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Royal City

We headed over to Royal City, WA on Sunday to visit our good friends the Peila's and play on the farm for the day! I'm so glad we did - we all had so much fun. I won't bore you with specifics because if you know me at all, you know I documented every step we took with photos - consider yourself warned for a major photo dump and for some major cuteness!