I took a day off of work last week to go with Brennan on his field trip. We had a perfect day at a nature center with his classmates. My favorite part was listening to the three boys that rode with me though. They giggled and laughed the entire 45 minute ride there and back. Afterwards Brennan commented, "Thanks for going with me mom! It meant so much to me." Wow- my child doesn't say much but when he does it means a lot! I wish I could go on every field trip! We also took a lunch break together a few weeks ago, and he loved our alone time. We're going to make lunch a new tradition once or twice a month.
Brennan has been hard at work researching Jacques Cousteau. My ocean and fish enthusiast is enjoying learning about this very interesting man. He'll dress like Jacques Cousteau on October 20th and talk about his life in the first person. We have a friend that is going to lend us some cool props and of course we bought him the trademark red hat to wear. He'll be so cute!
Brennan has a traveling buddy that will travel around during his fourth grade year. It's a little stuffed whale that will go on trips with friends and family. We were talking about where we should send it and said a few places and then Brennan commented, "And then we can send it to dad's ancestors in Norway." He makes me smile! I hope the Norwegian ancestors are up for having a traveling buddy visit them.
Kate's appointment with Dr. Wooten went well. We asked a lot of questions and left feeling much more educated about cerebral palsy. After our appointment with Dr. Wooten, Kate had physical therapy and we met with the orthodist. He made the cutest molds of Kate's feet- I wish I would have remembered to get pictures! She is going to have braces made that will help lift her toes up and put her feet into better alignment. They will be pretty minimal and will only have to be worn when she's being active. She even got to pick out a butterfly pattern for them! How cool is that?!!! She was a great sport and worked hard at her occupational therapy afterwards. I think she loved all the one on one attention!
I'm still enjoying my class a lot! They are so cute and so smart! They keep me busy coming up with new projects and assignments! I truly enjoy going to work knowing that both Kate and Brennan are being cared for and taught by such caring and wonderful people! Kate is so active and does so many amazing things at her school. Julie is great about taking pictures, which I love to see. Brennan is working hard and learning a lot! We are all so lucky!
It's strange to think about four months ago when we first met Kate in person. She was so quiet and the only time she's quiet now is when she's sleeping. She spends most of her day singing and humming and talking A LOT! She would wear anything I put on her four months ago- now she truly has her own style and ideas! She continues to be a girly girl though! She didn't know any English four months ago... now she knows so many words! Kate has always been sweet to everyone and that continues to be true. She is a love bug! She wasn't sure what a family was when she met us but four months later she has a better idea. She has a pretty good understanding that she is "stuck"with us through the good and bad times- which she is happy about! Kate didn't know who Barney was... but now that big purple guy is her favorite thing to watch. She was scared of dogs and all other animals when we met her. Now she's best buddies with Zamboni, our dog, as well as many other dogs she's met. She loves cats and any animal in a cage. She is scared of squirrels though, which makes us laugh when she sees one. I wonder what the next four months will bring...
I also wonder what Brennan would say about these past four months?!! I'll have to see if I can get him to write a little from his perspective.
I've seen Brennan grow in so many ways these past four months! He talks in a much softer way to Kate, he explains things much better, he helps Kate a lot more (without even knowing it), and he doesn't use the words "my or mine" as much. He's learned to share both possessions and people better. He's also learned to take turns with music in the car, telling stories, or doing homework (Kate thinks she needs to do homework every night just like Brennan). I think the best thing he's learned is that Kate looks up to him and how good he feels when he makes her smile. He asked me the other day if it was okay that he didn't love Kate right away... I told him that of course it was okay. We went on to talk about how when everyone else gets a sibling they have time to get used to it before their sibling walked, talked, or had much of a personality. Poor Brennan- his sibling came walking, talking, and with a very strong personality! LOL!
Life is not always easy for either one of them, but I am confident that they will both be better people because they have each other! I know they already have more sweet moments together than the not so sweet ones. They are getting there!
The other night we were all snuggling in bed (even the dog) and I just had to reflect on my life and say thank you to God for the zillionth time! We are blessed!
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| Ready for the rain! |
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| Of course Brennan would find an app for this |
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| Some of the cute fourth graders |
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| Getting ready to break rocks |
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| Brennan's traveling buddy snuck on the field trip with us. |
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| Building a shelter made Brennan so happy on his field trip! |
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| The finished shelter...I think Brennan would have loved to spend the night in there! |
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| One happy kid! |
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| Brennan's fourth grade teacher |
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| Kate took this picture of her sweet brother. |
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| Kate had fun at the multi-cultural feast my school has each year. This little girl was in my class last year and was so excited about Kate! They are both soooo cute! |
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| Kate was so happy to run into Emma at the multi-cultural feast! |
Her transitions seems so familiar to Hanna's...and so happy things are going so well.
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