6th Grade Winter Concert

Last night Anthony had his first winter concert as a middle school student. The show was supposed to be before winter break, but on the schedule day they had a snow day, so it was postponed. The 6th grade is so big that only 1/2 of the band performed on this night. They did a wonderful job, and I think it's amazing how far he's come with his instrument, this is only his second year and it's no longer painful to listen to him.
Christopher came with me to watch his big brother, and really enjoyed the band part, but it was funny to see him plug his ears when the 8th grade chorus came on stage! silly kid.
Our view of Anthony was obstructed by a tall girl playing the flute, so I wasn't able to get any good pictures while he was performing, but he was nice enough to pose with his sax once we got home.
Can't wait for the spring show. Ok I'll admit it, can't wait for Spring in general, I'm cold.
Here's a little taste of the show...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

First Day Pictures

A few posts ago I said I would share the hospital pictures of all my kids so we could compare what they look like. So here we go: in a Then & Now Format:

Anthony


Matthew


Christopher


Isabella

Monday Matthewism!

So Matthew is very concerned with peoples health (future MD) and gets very upset when he notices unhealthy things. (don't know where he gets this from LOL).
We're at the anniversary party on Saturday night and since it was getting a little hectic I decided to take him outside a little to get some fresh air.
We walk out and everyone is smoking and Matthew just blurts out "THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!"
What a way to get his point across that smoking is bad huh? LOL

Christopherism of the Day!

Little man walked in as I was waxing the unibrow and the italian manstash and said:
"ewwww look mommy a monster"
Thanks kid!

Anthonyism of the day!

Frustrated with his little brothers habits Anthony finally exploded and said:
"Christopher it's called Play-Doh not Eat-Doh"
and appropriately Christopher responded:
"No Anty, I eat"
LOL
what am I gonna do with these Kids?????

Christophers Surgery

We got to the ambulatory center at 7:45, it was hard since he could not eat since the night before but he was fine and spent some time playing with all the toys they had there. They took him in at 8:45, it was actually fun to see him "loopy" on valium before that! he was making animal sounds and being really silly! He was in surgery till almost 9:30, and then we got to go see him in the recovery area, he didn't stay asleep long but he was really cranky once he woke up. They had to remove a lot of fluid from his ears, they put in the new tubes and then removed his adenoids that were enlarged. He did fine with the anestesia and breathing tube and stuff, he was more traumatized about waking up with the IV still in his leg and the heart monitor on his toe....that made him straight up mad. It took him a while to start eating and drinking again, but now he's back to his old self! He actually spent some time outside chasing his brothers around too! it's amazing how these kids snap out of it! I was such a mess this morning! but i'm soo glad it's over and that we did it, so now he can be "normal" again, and regain his hearing and his balance! my poor baby!

Ohh the Monkey!!!!

It amazes me how his personality really shines through when he wants something!
This monkey was actually Matthews, he found it at toys r us when he was 2, he dragged it all around the store, so we just had buy it! He's had it in his room ever since and now I think it's time to pass it on to the next generation, cause little man is sure willing to fight for it.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Ouch!! My mouth hurts!

Ok, if you guys know me, you also know that I'm a big wimp when it comes to going to the dentist.
Well the boys pressured me and I started going again....Well Monday I went for my cleaning. That was not such a bad experience ;0)
Tuesday was another story. I went in for some filling and sucked it up and got my crooked nasty wisdom tooth pulled. AHHHHHHH
Actually it wasn't too bad till the numbness started wearing off, but Today I woke up and the right side of my mouth is a little swollen and I'm hurting......
I really hope it's not getting infected. I just popped an advil and I'm trying to deal.
of course, Christopher is sitting there screaming cause he wants me to look at the photo album with him again.........What can I say the kid is as obsessed as I am....
and maybe he wants to read Goodnight Moon for the 1000 time today!
The other kids were not like this..............what is up with his demanding little crapper.
and now he just pointed at his diaper and said "poop"
I need a vacation................LOL
And of course I have to include these adorable pics courtesy of SIL.

Celebrating the 1st day of camp!!

Ok hand over the bad mother of the year award! I don't care! LOL
It was sooo nice to put my 2 oldest on the bus this morning......
They were being such brats this weekend, that this was just the reward I deserved.
Christopher and I had a wonderful morning, the PT came over, we went to Walmart and only bought what was on the list, went to the A&P and only got 1 box of cereal!
Went to Grandmas for lunch and now are home taking a nap! Oh what a day!
Chris was great at the stores, he sat in the cart and we named so many things...his speech is finally coming along. He's still really shy about it, so it doesn't seem like he talks that much cause he's selective about who he actually talks to.
So at 3:30 I will pick the boys up and finally head to the dentist for my cleaning.
Not a great way to end the day, but it needs to be done!
Only 2 weeks of bliss with both big kids gone, but Anthony is busy basically all summer, so that's a relief.

Sesame Place and Adventure Aquarium!

So yesterday we skipped work and school and headed off to Langhorn, PA for our annual Sesame Place adventure!
We have been going for the past 5 years and every year is soo different. This year Christopher stole the show! He was just so much fun. Matthew is still a little chicken, but this year he braved up and went on the Vapor Trail Roller Coaster for the first time! he did great.
Anthony being the oldest and getting bored so easily stuck to the water rides. It was a lot of fun and me and D are exhausted.


and as if Sesame wasn't enough fun we headed to NJ for a day at Adventure Aquarium.
Christopher had a blast looking at all the fish and Matthew and his Marine Life obsession was in heaven. Personally I enjoyed the Spongebob 4D ride the most.


oh and we got a nice family picture too!

Another surgery for my little guy.

So we went to the ENT yesterday and it turns out that Christophers tubes fell out, his ear drum healed and the fluid is still in there and not draining on it’s own. He also has hearing loss once again especially in his right ear..

So once again my little guy is going to have to undergo ear surgery.

This time around they will put in a new set of tubes and take out his adenoids.

Hopefully this time around it will work.

The only way his speech and balance issues will be resolved is if the fluid is gone and is hearing is restored.

Oh the stress these children bring. I know it’s a simple procedure and Matthew had it and Christopher had the 1^st set of tubes put in when he was 20 months, but it’s still scary!

Christophers first trip to the ER

I got a call from the daycare center and they told me that chris fell off the bench while they were putting sunscreen on him and he was not acting right, when i asked her to explain she said he was very lethargic and his eyes were glazing over, so we decided that they should call an ambulance.
I flew to the hospital! (surprised I didn't get a ticket) and met them there
Once I saw him he was fine.

They didn't do a CAT scan cause he's not showing any symptoms of internal bleeding and the radiation is so much that they would rather avoid it.
He just has a really big bump on the back of his head and it's all red and nasty.
He's acting like himself again, he's laughing and playing and his eye contact is good, we just need to watch him till tomorrow morning.
the director from the daycare was great, she rode in the ambulance with him and kept him calm the whole time.

More words.............. this kid is wacky!

ok so we had a very productive day..........Christopher can now say

Play...Cheese, Boob, Poop, Pee, Cacca (poop in Italian), Please,
some more body parts: ears, nose, teeth
and a variety of animal sounds including
hop,
Cockadoo
wooof
moooo
quack
oink oink
baaahh
roar

and i finally got him to say weeee and wow! LOL

if he keeps going at this speed I won't be able to keep up!
I'm soo proud, I just wish he'd share his knowledge with the therapist, but he's too much of a stinker for that!

And the word of the day is..................

ELBOW!!!!!!! LOL
totally random, we're on our way home from school and he holds up his arm, points at it and says "elbow"....
Just the cutest thing........
Grandma also taught him how to say "help me" the other day.....(a lot more useful if you ask me)
He's really doing such a good job...
On another positive note...........
Matthew is progressing with his reading.......he is finally starting to look at the words instead of just guessing...............
ohhh and I had a job interview today..............
I'll get into details another time..........
the boys need me right now, and grumpy husband is expecting dinner when he gets home...
for today!! Ciao ciao

Words are everywhere........

Ok so Chris is communicating a lot more, he's trying to combine more words and really trying to imitate new sounds.
The other day while he wanted a drink, he went in the fridge and said "Apple Jew" LOL I think he meant Juice! .......
Soo he has added, "NO WAY" to his repertoire and of course he's been saying "GO AWAY! more and more.
Mamma, Up! is always a favorite and my newest favorite "No More"
sooo his word count is still limited, but his combination making is great progress!
His sign language has also increased, he has learned the correct sign for "Shoes", "play" "drink" and "hide"....soo silly!

OMG T-Ball is sooo cute!!

Well since Anthony has been playing soccer since he started kindergarten, we decided to try something new for Matthew (he will still be playing soccer in the fall though, cause after all we are Italians!)
He had his first T-ball parade and Game this weekend and it was oh so cute! One kid up at bat and 10 kids running for the ball and they all miss!! LOL soo funny!
Juggling the soccer and T-ball schedules will be challenging, but both kids are having fun and Chris loves the fact that both fields have a playground, so it's all good.

oh and of course some Anthony action shots:


and we can't forget our favorite spectator!

My daredevil boy!

Christopher has been trying to give me a heart attack lately.
He has finally learned how to climb the steps to get on the slide, but it's still soo hard to watch.
He also said "hi" for the first time while I was taping him, so that's always exciting.

(video is giving me trouble, will try again in the morning)

We had lots of fun this morning blowing bubbles, the kids actually worked together without trying to kill each other.
Very glad the weather has gotten better and we get to spend more time outside.
Going back to work next week is going to stink i'm sure.

Counting words...

Well in order to appreciate Christophers speech progress I decided to list the few things he says:
No!
Butt
Mamma
Dadda
Mine
Mo (more)
Ball
Up
Bye Bye
Moo (moon)
Matt Matt (Matthew)
Aeeeyyyy (Anthony)
Oop (open)

I will keep updating this list as progress occurs,
but in 6 months of therapy, i think he's doing pretty good.

why...............

OK I have finally given in and started my blog.
Why today? why at all?
Well I'm going through some stuff right now that I might need to sit down and write about, so that a year from now or whatever I can look back and see how far I've come......

Current Issues:

• Anthony's Aspergers
• Really thought we had things under control but the meltdowns are increasing and my patience is decreasing.

• Christopher's Speech issues
• he has been making a lot of progress, but barely uses any words and every time I hear other children his age talking I get all emotional....this has got to get better right? He is getting speech 3x a week, PT 2x a week and OT 2x a week, it feels like he spends more time with therapists than with me..........

• Matthew's anger management, I'm a psycho 5 year old syndrome....
• This kid i just can't figure out.......he's so different than the other two..........
  
  
• and of course my personal issues which I'm not ready to deal with right now, maybe cause 2 of the 3 are screaming, I'm just tired, or I just don 't want to deal............

To be continued..................