Normal is BORING!

I wanted to make a post just about Family Resource Centers. I do not know if many people know about them or if they have any idea of how much amazing work they do in the community. If you have an FRC in your district you are really lucky & should take advantage of all the awesome FREE programs that they have to offer. If it wasn't for the birthday screening with Declan I might not have received the kind of help we needed & who knows where we would be now. The people that I met through the Play & Learn Groups were amazing resources the helped me find OT & Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician. I have taken classes through the FRC: one was a Parent Leadership Through Civic Engagement & People Empowering People. My little guy & I have Parent As Teacher sessions (PAT) once a month; a parent educator comes to your home. It helps you know if you child is on track, if  you have concerns you mention them, they are great at helping you find the right answers. ...

Patching & glasses with Bubba was oh so much fun in the beginning, he got used to the routine of every evening watching his movie; thank you Pixar & Disney for Cars, Lightning McQueen you are my hero! Slowly his brain began recognizing his eye & turned it back on! He still needed his glasses, they became his safety blanket. Upon starting he wanted nothing to do with them but now is was the first thing he wanted when he woke up & we had a process to get them off of his face at bedtime. The longer we patched & Bubba wore his glasses some of his quirks seemed to lessen & other things seemed to be arising. Over the next year we had some household changes, I had to return into the workforce finding a job that I could bring my son or worked with my husbands schedule.... I ended up becoming a bus driver, something I NEVER thought I would do! When I started there were a lot of moms & kids there; I was excited to get Bubba around other kids & for me...

I LOVE LEGO! I'm pretty sure that there isn't a day that goes by where they don't end up a part of our learning process. Today Declan got to participate in his first Master Build & meet Master Builder Dan! It was all hands on deck at the store, also at the stations were for the master build. There was a fun area to build with Duplos, how many 2' tall minifigures can you find to be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate! The build is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  Leonardo will be the life size TMNT. The  LEGO Grand Opening Weekend  started today & will run all weekend. Minifigure station I love that everything wasn't huddled up around the store itself! It was spread out to either side of the store, so no one was right on top of one another. We have been in the store a few times since the store opened. One of the associates remembers us & always greets us. Great customer service is a HUGE deal fo...

They eye exam that you see older kids getting & the ones we get are not the same exams as little I mean really young or uncooperative kids get just an FYI. Getting an eye exam for a young kid, 20 months; who has NO idea what is going on, is blind in 1 eye & does not like to be restrained; is NOT fun! Oh did I mention he was non verbal as well at this time he had a few words but not many. I say this in case you ever have to go for an exam with a little one, so you can be prepared. I thought I was after our first attempt. WRONG! I was really wrong! Going into the exam Declan was already unhappy & NOT cooperating, mind you this is before the drops. I had to restrain my son with every ounce of muscle I had. Legs over legs, cross armed over the chest & someone steadying his head, another to put the drops in. 3 people, it took 3 people just to get the drops in! It 3 people to do the exam as well, Dr. T, his amazing tech & myself. I restrained him with my entire bod...

Normal is boring, has been the motto in my house since my oldest Bubba was about 18 months old. His first year was pretty uneventful; 3 months later I started to wonder about a few things..... When Bubba would look at anything he would be on top of it like nose touching whatever he was looking at. Walking he only walked with his right side of his body leading. Talking he had a couple words so I wasn't too concerned, yet. My doctor said it's normal, everything is normal.... This picture was taken in November 2012, see his left eye? I took him into the doctors for something, an on call doctor that was seeing him says "Oh I see your son has a lazy eye?"  I was not shocked, but so mad that my doctor had ignored my concerns & at this point you could see that his eye was not straight. I took him to a very nice eye doctor, we started his eye exam everything was looking OK. Covered his left eye & my son flipped out! I have never seen him so agit...

I was over at my friends house visiting her newborn son. Seeing him brought up some nostalgia of my boys when they were little babies, then something else hit me like a semi; panic sheer and utter panic! No one tells you about the panic that you feel as a new mom, the insta-mommy guilt or the crazy hormonal roller coaster for the first couple of weeks. Breastfeeding is not as natural as you would think it would be & that self doubt would be my new hobby! There are a lot of things that I wish the parenting books told me about being a Mom, like everything that I read would not apply to my pregnancy/child. I was around a lot of kids growing up, I did my share of babysitting & was pretty good with little ones. When they are yours everything that you thought you knew goes out the window! Lets back up a minute to pregnancy all the books, even your birthing class tell you about the factual things. The statistical facts gathered & what the normal is; well normal is boring...

The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head Exhibit I just wanted to share these collages from the CT Science Center. Declan (9yrs) asked for his birthday for a membership, with the help of our family we were able to attain this for him. We love going there! Currently there is a traveling exhibit of The Adventures of Mr. Potato Head & Mindbender Mansion.  Finn (2yrs) & I only went to the Mr. Potato Head side, the exhibit is for 3rd & under. The staff is very good at making sure that the big kids do not come in; very politely they let them know that it is meant for younger kids. KidSpace & Forces in Motion We LOVE the Forces in Motion room. Finn can  make a race car push the button & watch it go. He LOVES the magnetic trains, he cheers and claps for them! Best place to end our visit is in the KidSpace area! Bring extra clothes & be prepared to get wet! There is a discounted rate for admission for Homeschoolers & 15% off on a membersh...