Life Changes

My timehop yesterday showed a blog post I wrote.  I decided to read the post.  Almost an hour later I found myself going through tons of my old blog posts, which made me realized that I NEED to get back into blogging.  If not for anyone else, for myself and for my kids.  In that hour that I sat down to read some of my old posts I found so many little things that I had forgotten about; things my kids said or did, places we went, events that took place.  I need to get back into it, and I will.  This is such an easy way to keep a journal of our crazy life.  I am not going to go back and re-hash everything that has happened in the years since I last blogged, but rather I am going to start with now.  I'm excited to start writing again! 

Basketball Star

I posted about Kayden and the basketball league we signed him up for.  Remember how he hated it so much at first?  Well, by week six, he was completely on his own.  Participating in all of the activities.  And now--he LOVES basketball.  We are even having a basketball themed party for his sixth birthday!  I'm so glad I stuck with it instead of letting him quit when he wanted to. 
I spoke with his teacher yesterday and she said she can't believe how much he has come out of his shell since Christmas break.  I'm so glad he is maturing and becoming a little less shy. 

The lump, pt. 2

 Tuesday, February 12th was Tyson's surgery to have his "lump" removed.  I went into this whole thing, thinking it was not really a huge deal.  We knew he would have to stay overnight after the surgery, but I didn't realize the actual surgery was going to take three stinkin' hours!  Wow.  I thought it was just going to be a quick in-and-out kind of thing, but I was wrong.  Once the doctor came in to explain what he was going to do, I found out it was a little more complicated than I had first realized.  There was some nerves they had to work around, a breathing tube, etc.  Eeek. 
The actual procedure took almost three hours, by the time we got to see our baby after his time in recovery it was well over three hours.  He did awesome!  All of the nurses and doctors were so impressed with him.  He handled everything really well.  He never shed a tear.  The plan was, as long as he was eating well and staying hydrated, etc. we would be able to go home the morning after surgery.  Thank God, everything went great.  He ate like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and was spoiled rotten by the nurses.  He ate cookies and ice cream in his bed, he was in heaven. 
During the night, his nurse came in every hour to check his vitals and he did amazing, going right back to sleep as soon as she was done.  The surgeon and his team came by 8:00 in the morning to check things out.  They were amazed by how well he was doing and then decided to have the nurse take out his IV, and they removed the drainage tube from behind his ear.  By about 10:00, we were on the road, headed home. 
It was "recommended" that we keep him out of daycare until the following Monday, but our amazing daycare provider was totally fine with having him on Thursday and making sure his incision area stayed dry and nobody bumped it.
He has been healing well as far as I can tell.  The bandages are still over the incision area.  The doctor thought they would fall off within about a week, but as of now, they are still there.    He goes in for a follow-up appointment on Friday, so I would assume if they haven't fallen off by then, the doctor will remove them.  The only real side-effect we are seeing is that his smile is kind of crooked.  Dr. Lander told us, that because they had to work around a major nerve on that side of his face, this would probably happen.  The full function should come back within a few weeks, but it could be as long as a year before he has complete control of it again. 

An early birthday celebration

Kayden received his birthday present from us a little early this year.  Mike's boss has season tickets for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  We decided to reward him by getting our hands on those tickets and taking Kayden to the game.  The seats are in the sixth row, right under the basket.  He loved it.  Since we were heading down to the cities for the game, we decided to hit up "Underwater Adventures" at the Mall of America.  We took Kayden here for his birthday last year too, and he absolutely loves it.  It's right up his alley with all of the fish and animals.  It was a long, busy day, but a totally successful birthday present.



 

Basketball

I signed Kayden up for Saturday morning basketball.  It's just a six week program.  He plays with other kindergarteners, has some great coaches and is learning a ton!  From the moment I told him I had signed him up, he was adamant that he was not going.  His reason?  He was already in baseball and he doesn't need to be in more than one sport.  I decided that even though he had a terrible attitude about it and just really didn't want to go, I would have him at least try it. 
The first week went horribly.  Mike took him and I guess he cried and did not want to participate.  Mike had all three boys that day, so there wasn't much he could do to help.  So, Kayden stood by the wall for the entire hour and watched.  Fail. 
With a little convincing, I took him back the following week.  I told him I would stay with him the whole time and help him with everything the coaches wanted him to do.  So, week number two went a little better.  He participated in all of the "drills" with just a few tears.  I had to be right next to him the whole time, but he did it.  At the end of every session the team has a little scrimmage with the other kindergarten team.  This week, he refused to participate in this part. 
So, week three.  Things went a little better.  He participated in all of the drills.  I don't think there were any tears.  Again, I was right with him.  He participated in some of the scrimmage, but decided part way through, he'd had enough.  Fine with me.  It was during the scrimmage time this week that my friend Christina came and sat on the floor with me.  She told me that I was a good mom for making Kayden stick with it, and for putting in all of the extra effort of getting him to enjoy basketball without letting him quit every time he wanted to.  I needed to hear this.  It had been hard watching all of the other parents sitting on the sidelines drinking their Saturday morning coffee and chatting while I was having to hold my child's hand through every part of the program.  Thank you Christina. 
Week four.  This week, Kayden participated in every part of the program.  I didn't have to help him with anything.  He is so much more confident.  I sat near him, but did not have to give him nearly as much support as he had needed in the past weeks.  I was so proud of him.  I knew if I could get him to stick with it, he would find out he really did enjoy it.  He is shy, and just wasn't very confident in his abilities.  He has spent the past six years of his life watching his aunt play basketball.  I think he thought he needed to play like her.  I had to explain that Amazih started with kindergarten basketball.  She didn't know how to play when she started and these coaches had to teach her.  I think it all just finally sank in.  He isn't so afraid of failing.  Maybe he won't make the shot he takes, maybe the ball will bounce off his foot and roll away while he's dribbling, maybe he will bump into another player and fall down.  He is learning that this is all ok.  His coaches are amazing.  One of them was my high school history teacher and my ninth grade basketball coach.  He talked to me the first week I was there and I told him how shy Kayden was and he was 100% on board with letting him ease into things.  He understood that pushing Kayden outside his comfort zone wouldn't help anything.  This was all a huge help.  I'm so thankful Kayden was put on his team. 
There is just two weeks of basketball left.  I hope we will see even more improvement in Kayden's confidence, but even if he stays right where he is at, I'm totally satisfied.  He has made huge gains and I'm one proud mama. 

A little brag session

My baby sister Amazih scored her 1000th career point as a varsity basketball player about a week and a half ago.  She went into the game needing to score 16 points and ended up with 17 in just the first half and 30 total. 

The Lump

Tyson has a "lump".  I noticed it on December 9th.  I looked at him and noticed the right side of his face was swollen.  Upon further examination, I found a lump.  It was big.  Like at least the size of a quarter.  I freaked a little bit.  This was a Sunday morning, and was also the middle of a Minnesota snow storm.  I called my RN sister in law, and she said she would probably take him in, but I convinced myself it could wait until Monday.  So, Monday morning I called his primary doctor and she was able to squeeze him in.  She checked it out and was pretty perplexed.  She did a few tests.  Strep, checked some blood levels, etc.  She found nothing other than the fact that he had some kind of infection.  She decided to put him on a ten day antibiotic and hope the "lump" would shrink.  It didn't. 
The next appointment included a call to another physician friend of our doctor's, a call to an ENT specialist at the Children's hospital, and a chest x-ray.  So, eventually, she referred us to an ENT doctor at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. 
Fast forward to New Year's Eve.  We took Tyson to his appointment at Children's and the doctor didn't seem overly concerned.  He explained (in a lot of big words) that this was probably an infection.  Something little kids pick up in the summer, but doesn't show up for a few months.  He thought it would most likely need to be surgically removed.  The first step was some blood work, then to schedule a CT scan.  The blood work was done that day.  The CT scan was today.  We never heard anything on the blood work, so I am assuming no news on that is good news. 
For the CT scan, we had to be in Minnetonka at 7:30 this morning.  The two big boys spent the night at my parents' house so that my mom could take them to daycare/school for us.  We got Tyson up early put Ice Age in the DVD player and we were on the road.  The actual scan was pretty quick.  He did need to be sedated, so that process took a little while.  Everything went well, and the results will be sent to his primary doctor and the doctor at Children's.  The nurse from this morning thought we would most likely hear something from Dr. Lander at Children's within one to two days.  Until then, we just hope for the best. 

Well, hello there!

We're back!  It's been months since I've posted, but only because my computer died.  I teach, therefore, I am not rich, so I searched for a killer deal on a new one.  I finally found one early December, but decided to save it and call it a Christmas present.  So, here I am.  I'm working on figuring out this Windows 8 junk, and I think I'm finally understanding it enough to do the basics. 
Things are good.  Kids are healthy for the most part (other than the fact that Tyson is having a CT scan on Thursday this week--more on that later).  We have been busy as usual.  It's basketball season, so we are at Amazih's games one or two nights a week.  I have a kindergartener, so we've tried to slow down a little, although it's very hard. 
So, I will do my best to post fairly regularly.  I've been taking a lot of pictures, trying a lot of new recipes lately, and we are throwing around the idea of a kitchen remodel (hoping maybe that will help in selling this stinkin house!) so maybe I'll post more of that junk too ;)
Ta-ta for now!

The Big Day

Today was the big day.  I sent my baby to kindergarten.  It was a very emotional experience for me.  He, on the other hand, did fine.  As much as I was dreading it, I really talked it up, making it sound like I was really excited, and I think it worked, as far as getting him excited and less nervous.  

We got to school and there were lots of kids waiting in the lobby area.  Once the clock hit 8:05, they kids were supposed to put their backpacks by their lockers and head out to the playground.  Sounds like fun, right?  Well....not so much when you are a kindergartener and it's your very first day of school and you are on a playground you've never seen before and there are about 100 kids running around, many of them three times your size.  He kinda freaked.  Honestly, I did too.  He held on tight to my hand, and I held on tight to my tears.  We walked around for a little bit.  I waited for one of the adult supervisors on the playground to come and take him off my hands, but that didn't happen.  So,  we wandered a little longer.  Finally, a fellow kindergarten friend from Kaydens daycare walked out the door with her big brother.  Alleluia!  They were excited to see each other and big brother offered to show Kayden where to go and what to do.  Thank God!  I didn't know how I was ever going to get out of there before my tears started rolling!  So, off they went, and around the corner to my car I went.  I worried a little bit, but luckily, his teacher happens to be a friend of mine, so, against everything I said I wouldn't do, I texted her just to see how he was doing.  She responded with a very encouraging "Great!'.  

By the time I picked him up from daycare he had lots to tell me about his day, and seems very excited to go back tomorrow! 

A little this and a little that

Ya, ya.  I don't know where I've been really.  No excuses, as usual.  I guess my only semi-excuse is that I've been working and relaxing.  Spending time with my boys and enjoying a wonderful Minnesota summer.  Here are a few things that have been going on around here:

1.  I potty trained #2.  Ok, that's a bit of a lie.  He actually potty trained himself.  It was like one day, he decided he was done wearing diapers, and that was it.  Craziness.  

2.  We went to the zoo.  We took our annual Little Falls Zoo trip with Leah and the girls and Susan and her boys.  Pretty sure we picked the hottest day of the year, but we had fun.  Seven kids five and under with their three mama's sweating their butts off.  It was glorious.  

3.  We have been camping pretty much every weekend.  The boys are loving it!

4.  We have been showing our house about once a month.  Still nothing.  Frustrating!  

5.  We have had a few too many friends and family members diagnosed with that crap called cancer.  It's getting really old!  

6.  My big kid is getting ready for kindergarten.  The freakin' school supplies were out at Target before the Fourth of July!  Sickening I tell ya!  As much as I know he'll love going to school, I am dreading it!  I just hate that my kids have to grow up!  This is one of the main reasons we are enjoying every last minute of this summer.  

7.  We bought a membership to a local private beach and we're loving it!  It's nice and close to our house, not a ton of people, has a playground, we just love it!  

I do have pictures to go with a lot of the happenings around here, but they'll have to wait.  So, there you have it folks.  A quick re-cap of our summer so far.  I'll keep trying to do a better job of keeping up with this blogging stuff.  Until then....

A two, A three and A five

Well, my number two turned three this week.  Tyler's birthday was Monday.  We celebrated with a combo Tyler-Tyson birthday party on Sunday.  We did a camping theme and everything went really well.  The weather forecast was pretty grim, but by the time the party really got underway, it turned out to be pretty nice.  We were able to do our pinata outside, the kids ran around, the guys fried a turkey and there was lots of eating and relaxing going on.  

The only part of the day that to be a little bit much for me was when we got to the gift opening.  I wasn't sure what the best way to do things was.  Tyler open one, then Tyson open one.  Tyler do all of his, then Tyson do all of his....there were options.  I decided to go with every other one.  Then, things just got crazy.  There was paper flying everywhere.  I feel like I didn't get to see half of the gifts they got and I'm not even sure whos are whos when it comes to some of them.  But they were happy and that's really all that matters.  

*Tyson got a baby and a stroller from Pat and Leah.  He was beyond excited!  As soon as he saw what it was, he was yelling and clapping and smiling from ear to ear!  Once it was open and the baby was strapped in, he headed out the garage door and could have cared less about any of the rest of his presents.  He even insisted on sleeping with the baby AND the stroller!  

Monday was Tyler's actual birthday.  He had his 3 year check up in the morning and he did AWESOME! He was so cooperative I couldn't believe it!  I did ask the doctor about two of the fingers on his left hand that are swollen and have been for a few months.  She seemed pretty perplexed by it and decided to do an x-ray to be safe.  She didn't really find much other than the tissue around the bones is kind of swollen.  She decided we would just keep an eye on it for now.  

After his appointment--because I have an unbelievably flexible job--we were able to stop at Toys R Us for a game and a case for the Leapster he got from Rhonda and Troy, then a quick lunch at McDonald's before heading back to daycare where he celebrated some more!

This is what works

I'm a teacher.  I'm a licensed kindergarten through eighth grade teacher.  I have taught.  I have worked as a substitute teacher, I have worked in an after school care program, I have taught toddlers, infants and preschoolers.  

I am currently teacher toddlers.  I LOVE what I do.  I go to work every morning and help mold the lives of 20 children under three years old.  I see them learn and grow and they teach me things every day.  The only reason I ever second-guess what I'm doing is in the fact that I attended four and a half years of college to get a degree that I am not technically using.  Sure, my very first childcare center experience came during those four and a half years, and I learned a lot during that time.  But I paid--actually, am still paying for--a degree that allows me to teach bigger kids.  I worry that the longer I stay out of the elementary classroom, the less chance there is that I will ever go back.  Things change very quickly in the education field.  I have only been out of the classroom since last June, and I'm sure I am already completely out of the loop of the latest strategies and testing and terminology.  

On the other hand, I'm happy.  Like I said, I really do love what I'm doing.  I'm not going to get rich doing it, but I enjoy it.  I enjoy being with the kids, I enjoy the people that I work with, and I enjoy the fact that my job is flexible.  I was able to take last Friday off to help my mom work at the flower shop before Mother's Day.  I'm off this Friday to have a garage sale.  I went with Kayden to eat lunch at "the kindergarten school" today.  I will take days off to be with my kids, I will take time off for appointments, I may even take a mental health day here and there, and it's ok.  

For now, this is what works for us.  Only time will tell what the future holds for us, but for now this is what works. 

What's with this Kid????

In the past week, Tyler has done some CRAZY things!  Let's go back to last week, shall we?

When I got to daycare to pick up the boys, Tyler was in different clothes than I had packed for him.  I asked Sharon if he made a mess.  Her response...."Well...."

She went on to explain that he tried to change his own *poopy* diaper.  In the process, he ended up with poop all over her bathroom.  The sink, the floor, the toilet, the walls, everywhere.  I still have no idea what would have possessed him to do something so ridiculous, but whenever we ask him about it, he gets VERY embarrassed and quickly changes the subject. 

A few days later, I got a call from my mom.  It seems she couldn't find most of her forks.  You know, the forks that belong in her kitchen drawer.  The forks she would need to eat.  Turns out Tyler was helping her set the table last weekend when they had some of my moms family over.  He took a large handfull of forks and headed in the direction of the table to "help" set the table for supper.  Apparently the forks never made it to the table and are now M-I-A.  Nowhere to be found.  It has been almost a week, and there is still no sign of the missing forks.  We were at my parents' house for supper earlier this week for my dad's birthday and they had to get the stash of forks from their camper so that we could all eat.  

I don't know what has gotten into this kid, but I hope these strange happenings don't continue much longer.  Gotta love him I guess!

Tryin' out my skillz

Last fall I talked Mike into letting me buy a fairly expensive new camera.  One of the things I used to convince him it was a good idea was that I would be able to do the kids pictures myself.  So, I decided I better at least give it a try.  

A couple weekends ago we had some BEAUTIFUL spring Minnesota weather.  So, during naptime I took Kayden outside and snapped a few photos of him, and actually, they didn't turn out too shabby!

Two Two Year Olds

Today starts my month of having two two year olds.  You know, the one month out of the year where Tyler and Tyson are the same age?  Yes, they are just eleven months apart.  It always makes me feel good to hear of other families with children REALLY close in age.  A couple weeks ago, I met a mom at Tyler's ECFE class who has children who are just nine and a half months apart.  Craziness, right?  Oh, how those stories make me feel better ;)

So, today is Tyson's second birthday.  We started the day with his doctor's appointment.  After being given a clean bill of health, I took him to daycare and headed to work.  Tonight we had Grammy over for grilled hotdogs and brats and birthday cake and ice cream.  

It's interesting how, with my current job, where I spend all day, every day with two year olds, I find myself comparing my own children to the children I work with every day.  When I compare Tyson to other kids his age (the ones I know anyway), I'm realizing that he talks more than most of them.  He talks a lot.  I am able to understand most of what he says.  Mike on the other hand, sometimes needs some translation from myself or Kayden to help him figure out what Tyson needs.  

He really is nowhere near ready to start potty training.  We are obviously in no rush, seeing as how Tyler is still wearing diapers.  We WILL get going on that potty-business.  I just often feel like I am wasting my time and energy trying to force Tyler if he just isn't ready.  Ugh, that's a whole other post.  

Tyson's interests right now include baseball, four-wheeling, going outside, swinging, eating, drinking "duce and wata", wrestling with his brothers and chewing on his blanket.  Grandma Doris has already had to sew all of the seams on the corners of his blanket because he chewed them apart.  

He is just a very goofy, happy little guy.  He is a great mix of Kayden and Tyler's personalities.  He has Kayden's calm, laid back-ness, and Tyler's energy at the same time.  We love the little guy :)

Aaaahhhh....

We had an uneventful weekend.  A rarity for our little clan.  Mike is on call this week, so we made zero real plans for the weekend since we never know whether he'll have to go to work or not.  

Friday night he did just that--he worked.  The kids and I had supper and then played for a while before watching The Land Before Time.  Mike came home just in time to help me get the kidlets to bed.  

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL outside, so the kids and Mike were outside pretty much all day.  I was in and out doing the weekend stuff--hanging laundry, chasing kids, etc.  During naptime I got Kayden dressed up and we headed outside for my first attempt at taking any of the kids' regular, yearly pictures by myself.  I must say, they turned out really cute!  

Saturday night after supper, I headed to meet some co-workers for a wedding reception for another of our co-workers.  

Today we cleaned, ran a few errands and took the boys out to lunch.  Something we haven't done in a LONG time.  Anyone who has more than one child knows how much of a challenge it can be taking them in public, let alone trying to get them to eat a meal.  They actually did really well.  They must be growing up :)  **Another bonus was that we went to LaCasita where kids eat free on Sundays, so we got by pretty cheap :)

Tonight we finished some cleaning, got the kids in bed early, I got a run in on my treadmill and got to watch my shows, and even got in some time to catch up on blogs and facebook. 
The week ahead looks fairly uneventful as well.  Tyler has school Wednesday night, and I will probably have to work Thursday night.  It sounds like next weekend will involve some serious turkey scouting before the next hunting season---turkeys! 

Easter 2012

We had one of our usual, crazy-busy holidays.  We had two Easter celebrations Saturday.  We headed to Farming to celebrate with Mike's mom's family for lunch.  Had an egg hunt there, then headed to Albany to celebrate with Mike's dad's family, which included another egg hunt.  

We decided to be REALLY brave and take all three boys to Easter Vigil Mass at 8:00 Saturday NIGHT.  Mind you, they had NO NAP.   I figured they would all sleep, and I was ALMOST right.  Tyler fell alseep on Mike after about half an hour.  It didn't take long and Kayden was laying on the pew snoozing too.  We had Tyson sit with my parents to separate the boys and hopefully make things a little easier on everybody.  I think this was the first time in his almost two years of life that Tyson didn't take a nap.  This will also be the last time he goes without a nap for a  LONG TIME.  He did ok for the first half hour or so.  Was a little chatty while he read his books, but eventually got loud and wiggly, and was not staying in the pew.  So, my dad took him out into the "gathering area".  He was out there with him for about another half hour before I decided to go relieve him.  I stayed out there for a little while and my mom came to relieve me.  Just before communion, my mom brought him back in.  I busted out a few of the snacks that I had left to get us through the little bit of Mass that was left and we all survived.  We woke the two big boys up and put their coats on and we were on the road, headed home by 10:10.  Tyson was asleep in the car by 10:12.  He was TIRED.   

This morning, Tyson woke up early.  I got him his "rink"(water), put him in our bed and he went back to sleep.  At about 8:00, Kayden was yelling for me, so I got him out of bed and took him to our bed.  At about 8:15 he remembered that the Easter bunny was supposed to come while he was sleeping.  He lasted until about 8:30, when I told him he could go downstairs and get Tyler up.  I'm pretty sure 8:30 is the latest Tyler has EVER slept.  Boy was tired!  So, now, everybody was up, and we were headed out to find those baskets.  Tyson and Tyler found theirs right away, but Kayden had to really search before he found his in the bathtub :)  

After everybody was dressed, had a few minutes to play with their new stuff, and had some cereal, we headed to my aunt and uncle's for brunch and another egg hunt.  Shortly after, we headed to Mike's parents to hang out for a while, and--yep--another egg hunt.  This evening we had supper at my parents' house and then finally headed home.  I'm guessing we're going to have a week with some VERY tired kids!  Well worth it though, to be able to spend time with family on a special holiday. 

Mother of just ONE

It was just like the old days.  Just me and ONE toddler.  We shopped, we shopped some more, we watched Auntie Mazih play basketball, we went for walks, we napped.  It was glorious.  BUT, it was not our normal.  We missed the big boys and we missed Daddy.  It was weird.  

This weekend Mike took Kayden and Tyler with him to "the pink house"(my brother's cabin).  They went up to do boy things.  Four wheeling, put siding on a bunk house, work on plumbing, walk in the woods, you know, the usual.  My mom had surgery last week and is pretty much out of commission for a while.  So, since Amazih started North Tartan practice this weekend, I volunteered to stay back from the cabin to help out and take Amazih to her practice.  

The weekend started Friday after work.  We packed up the boys and Daddy and sent them on their way.  Once they were gone Tyson and I headed to Wal-mart to do some Easter shopping.  When we got home Amazih came over and spent the night.  Saturday morning we headed out for basketball.  We left early so that we would have time to stop in Albertville at the outlet mall and have lunch before we needed to have her at practice. Her practice was from 12:45 to 3:15.  I figured this would work perfect.  This is Tyson's normal nap time, so I figured I'd bring his stroller and push him around for a while and he'd sleep through most of the practice.  Wrong-O!  He did not sleep for a second.  He sat in his stroller, climbed on the bleachers, ate snacks, drank lots of juice/water, ate some more, went for a stroller ride, did everything BUT sleep.  It was ok though.  At least he was well-behaved. 

And on the way home?  Yep, you guessed it.  He was sleeping within five minutes of getting in the car. 
I worked my mom's usual shift at the bowling alley Saturday night, so Tyson stayed home with Grammy and Papa.  Today we hung out, went for a couple walks, took a nap, helped my mom deliver some funeral flowers and then when Daddy and the big boys got home we played outside, had supper at Grammy and Papa's and then finally headed home to get ready for another busy week. 

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I did one of these babies!

This week I'm thankful for......

• a successful surgery and quick recovery for my momma
• my hubby taking my two big boys to "the pink house" for the weekend and letting Tyson and I stay behind to help Grammy, and take Amazih to basketball practice
• healthy kids
• my 20+ "other kids".  You know--the ones I spend 8-9 hours a day with while I'm at work.  They wear me out, but they're cute.  
• a Thursday night off of work
• rain

F-I-V-E

Our little Kayden is five freakin' years old!  Last week, he had a dentist appointment and his five year well-child check all in one morning.  His dentist appointment went well.  They are just watching one spot where a cavity may be forming, but the dentist thought with some consistant flossing, we should be able to avoid a full-on cavity.  

His doctor appointment also went fairly well.  Before the actual appointment, they do a hearing and vision check.  I was curious what they would fine in his hearing because we notice that he says, "huh?" a lot, and have been wondering if he is having trouble hearing, or if it is just a habit.  Turns out that is just a habit, because his hearing is fine.  His vision on the other hand, was--just like last year--not perfect.  His left eye was 20-32.  The doctor suggested that we take him back to the optometrist, which we will do.  We took him for an eye exam last year and they thought his eyes were ok, but planned to re-check them yearly to make sure things didn't get any worse.  So, within the next few weeks, we will be headed back to the eye doctor.  

We also got the same lecture we got after his appointment last year.  It seems his BMI is fairly high (100).  Our doctor is fairly weight-conscience, so she made lots of suggestions as far as getting that number down.  And, just like last year, I let all of that go in one ear and out the other.  I do not think that Kayden is by any means over weight!  He is just like my brother was when he was young--solid.  He does not have a single roll of chub on him!  Ugh, it's frustrating.  

Over all, the appointments went well, and the BWW's was well-deserved afterward :)