What's goin' on 'round here.

I just wanted to give an update of what's been going on around here. Suzanne has started GA Pre-K and she's doing really well. We kept her home for the last 2 weeks before Pre-K started and we did a lot of school work here, mostly a result of her own prompting, and she made a lot of progress. Suzanne can write her name, read 3-4 letter words, and simple sentences. She can also write just about any other word as long as it's spelled out for her. She does have some trouble with a few letters being illegible or backwards but she asks to practice writing her letters almost every day. We have also been working on math skills and she can add any 2 numbers as long as she can count them on her fingers! I will be getting her some addition and subtraction flash cards this week so we'll see where that takes us. Most frustrating about all of this, for me at least, is Suzanne's need/desire to keep all of this new-found knowledge a secret from everyone else! Especially her teacher, at a critical time, when they are evaluating her skills to determine what class level to place her in! I'm trying not to make a big deal about it because I know that pressuring her will only make matters worse, but honestly, I could cry at times, it's so maddening!

Jack is also doing well. He is on the potty training fast-track and is now completely day trained. And currently, he's working on his fear-of-the-dark issues in order to get out of bed to go potty at night. We put a potty chair right next to his bed with a night light and as long as someone is up and there are lights on around the house, he will use it. But once everyone is asleep and lights are out, he thinks it's too creepy to get out of bed. On a separate note, he misses Suzanne during the weekdays. He says, "I very miss Zanne." and "Who can play wis me?" all day. We are working on his pronunciation skills too.

Last week Jack had his 1st appointment with the allergy/asthma specialist. We found out that he has 3 new allergies in addition to his previous three. He's now allergic to dogs, cats, dust mites, peanuts, and 2 kinds of mold. The Dr. feels quite certain that he will develop more allergies between now and age 6 when they will begin treating them with shots. He also said it's just a matter of time until the official diagnosis of asthma. Jack was very brave about getting all the pricks in his back. The staff was very impressed with him. On a side note, the Allergist also informed me that what my Dr told me years ago was "Bronciospastic Allergic Reaction", is the same thing as asthma. Which means Jay and I both have a history of asthma to give our children a double whammy predisposition.

So now you know where we're at. Feel free to respond to these posts. Until next time, know that you're in our hearts.