Better late than never!
Year: 2014
Dinner out for daddy’s birthday
We picked a local place we hadn’t been to yet. It’s a sports bar/restaurant and they had a paper football on the table, so we tried to teach Owen.
He doesn’t quite have the gist of flicking the football with just his finger, but every once in awhile he’d connect and he even landed one in my glass!
Happy birthday daddy!
Waiting for Owee
Happy Happy Birthday
Since we have time in the morning before school, I had Owen make a birthday card for Tom. He’s doing well with letters, but we just need to work on keeping it on a straight line. 🙂
It was also just supposed to be Happy Birthday but since the first happy went a little wonky he wanted to try again. 🙂
The heads are, in order, daddy, Owen, and Katie (you see she gets the big eyelashes)! The other circles are the cake.
Trying to get his mohawk away.
Yeah, we don’t know either. Welcome to Owen’s world. 🙂
Welcome to your new earworm.
What’s an earworm you ask? An earworm refers to any piece of music that is so catchy—and at the same time possibly so annoying—that it feels like a worm has crawled into your ear and eaten the intelligent parts of your brain so that you find yourself humming the song all day long and you can’t stop.
Fun, right?
Owen was doing some strange dance move tonight and when we asked what he was doing, he said TOOTY TA!
Huh? Come again?
A quick YouTube search and voilá—Tooty Ta—the exact moves he was doing. And after I heard it, I recognized it as having originally heard it in Owen’s pre-k class…where he first learned it.
Enjoy!
You’re welcome.
Owen’s Kindergarten Q&A
Last year: Owen’s Preschool Q&A
Again this year, some of his answers depended on what was in his line of sight or what he had recently played with—he doesn’t quite GET the meaning of the word “favorite” in all instances. I’m starting to rethink these questions. 🙂
- Favorite color: blue (same)
- Favorite pet: Charlie (same)
- Favorite food: pizza (was PB&J)
- Favorite ice cream: chocolate (same)
- Favorite fruit: strawberry (was apple)
- Best friend: Braxton (was Joselyne; I was wondering who he was going to say because he doesn’t really have any friends here yet)
- Favorite toy: Dusty (was cars; Dusty is the plane from Planes that was sitting next to him)
- Favorite Cars car: Frank the tractor (was Doc Hudson; Frank was on the floor next to him; he’s not really IN to Cars like he used to be)
- Favorite Super Hero: Batman (was Superman and Batman)
- Favorite TV show: Penguins of Madagascar (was Octonauts—no, Doc McStuffins)
- Favorite book: Star Wars Lego book (was Olivia; he first tried to tell me it was WHOOSH—a book we haven’t read in probably six months but was nearby thanks to Katie)
- Favorite movie: Lego Movie (was Planes—which I still find hilarious because he only saw it once at the theater—we haven’t watched it again since)
- What I want to be when I grow up: barbarian (was “race car man…race car guy…racing guy”—you can thank Tom and his iPad games for the barbarian!)
Owen’s school report, Day 2
Lunchtime chat with Katie
Watching, Walking & Waiting
Owen needed a bath and Katie didn’t so she had to watch. She wasn’t happy but she got over it.
Walking to the bus stop.
Waiting for the bus.
Owen requested a mohawk today.
I had no problem with that since I’m just thrilled he’ll let me put gel in his hair. He did request the sparkly orange gel but I told him that’s for special occasions. 🙂
Going to get Owen from the bus stop!
Katie was super excited and was ready to go the second I put her shoes on. Tom made sure to be home in time to go with us. 🙂
Playing with the other kids.
We could finally see the bus…and she sat down to wait. 🙂
Finally!
Screenshots from the video:
Once we got home I tried to get the scoop. He was excited and more interested in watching the movie (which was paused). But he was happy so that’s all that matters!
Katie’s Ankle Update (GRRRR)
I’ve about been at my limit with the pediatrician’s office. We were supposed to get a call almost a month ago with the referral appointment. (We did get her blood test results a ways back—I thought I posted but maybe not?—and there was nothing definitive so the doc wanted her to see a specialist.) Since they were supposed to call me, I kinda forgot about it. Then once I realized they hadn’t called, I called—and one of the phone tree options is “for referrals” so I left a message there. I didn’t hear anything after a few more days so I called back again (to the referrals request number) and gave more explanation. Days later, still no call. So I called back planning on just talking to the front desk because I’ve been patient long enough…and surprise! They’re having problems with their phones so all calls are being routed to their sister office who can’t help because Katie isn’t their patient. I call back repeatedly over the next two days and the sister office is still answering. Then it was the holiday weekend. It’s been over three weeks. RIDICULOUS.
So fast forward to today, when it’s time to get this figured out. Come to find out, they weren’t authorized as our PCM (completely unbeknownst to me, of course!)—but the kicker is they got the denial letter on AUGUST 25 and apparently no one felt it necessary to LET ME KNOW (and I didn’t get any denial letter from Tricare, either). GRRR. I asked why no one bothered to let me know. “Uh, um, stutter, stammer, I’m not sure.” Lovely.
So I called Tricare to find out that it’s MANDATORY we’re assigned to the army hospital WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN NICE TO KNOW A MONTH AGO. Their online system let me pick a civilian PCM back in July and I even double-checked afterward to make sure it was confirmed (it was). I asked why I hadn’t been informed and she said there should have been a letter. Well, if there was, I either missed it or didn’t pay attention because I ASSUMED IT WAS CONFIRMING THE DOCTOR I PICKED (why would I think otherwise?!). So, basically, no one has any idea what happened. But now I get to wait NINE more days for the first available appointment for the new PCM and then likely have to wait AGAIN for the referral from him (and I get to pay to have Katie’s records copied for the new doctor). I AM PISSED. The only silver lining is that Tricare still paid for (or the doctor’s office accepted the lower payment for) the first two appointments even though we technically weren’t assigned there.
What a mess. But, from the looks of it, even though I liked the doctor we saw, it appears the office staff isn’t that great…so maybe it’s a good thing we’re no longer going there.
Boo Hoo Breakfast
The breakfast was put on by the PTO for all of the kindergarten parents. And what a nightmare it was. It was scheduled for 9—which I understand because it’s at the beginning of school, and I guess they figured you’d likely be dropping off your kid in person so you’d already be there…? But trying to get there was awful, even though I drove straight there and was in the general vicinity at 8:50.
I was using the GPS because I’d only driven there once, and it took me to the back of the school where there is no parking (only Kiss-and-Ride and bus areas) and all the side streets were packed. I tried to reroute to the front of the school but the GPS wouldn’t do it and I couldn’t figure it out (it’s in a subdivision). I finally figured out how to get there, stupidly assuming that the small parking lot might actually have a space for people STAYING at the school instead of just dropping kids off. Ha. HA HA. There was literally NO parking space there or on any of the side streets for a half-mile radius. And it was already 85 and I was NOT walking that far with Katie and I was already late…so I said screw the breakfast. On the way out, I pulled over to calm down and think—if I waited just a bit longer, a lot of the parents would be done dropping their kids off and I’d hopefully be able to get a closer parking spot. So I waited until 9:15, turned around, and got a spot a block away.
The breakfast was…awkward. People were already at tables and chatting and there was nowhere for me to sit so I just stood there letting Katie play for a few minutes. It was also HOT in there—I asked if they didn’t have A/C and they said yes they did but in apparent Halley tradition the A/C was out the first day. 🙂 But they liked Katie’s school spirit—dressing in black and yellow! 🙂
Then I got us a snack and grabbed a seat and both other people were buried in their phones. Yay. 😐 I chatted for a brief minute with a mom from the pool but she was talking to friends. I hate these kinds of things but I had pushed myself outside of my comfort zone…and it was a bust. Lovely. So we listened to the welcome and the PTO president and I didn’t learn much. Katie was having a ball eating her apple and running back and forth to the stuffed animal area. Afterwards I talked to the PTO president about possibly volunteering a little and she was very nice. Then I saw Katie playing in another section so I went over to grab her and there were some other parents over there. I recognized one set as the parents of the twins in Owen’s class so I chatted with them briefly and they were very nice and we exchanged numbers.
It’s going to be an interesting year.
Owen’s first day of kindergarten!
First up? Baths. They didn’t take them after being in the pool yesterday so I figured we had enough time in the morning!
Katie picked the shark towel!
She got her toes painted again—this time to match mom!
They weren’t really focused this morning.
The best I got (though I didn’t take a ton because it looked like I got a good one). Oh well.
He opted not to get a haircut and said he’d let me put gel in instead!
His new minion back pack and lunch box!
Walking down the hill to the bus stop!
Waiting excitedly for the bus. We were the first people there but there were some kids across the street. A few minutes later kids just started appearing out of nowhere. We could see the stop ahead of ours and there were probably 20-30 kids there! At our stop there were about 6-8 (it was hard to count with all the parents there as well).
A mom that I met at the pool was there with her first grader and her 3yo (who is the same size as Katie—and they got along fabulously) and I had her take our picture. We talked about having play dates soon. 🙂
Kindergarteners get on first! The bus driver explains that in the afternoon you have to be there to pick them up AND ask for them by name before they can get off the bus.
Then Katie tried to get on the bus behind Owen. And started screaming and crying when she couldn’t: “OWEE! I MISS MY OWEE! I WANT TO GET ON SCHOOL BUS WITH OWEE!” Poor Katie bug.
We waved at him through the window, I could see him smiling, and then they were off! Katie was calming down as we walked back to the house with the other mom and daughter (I told them they could cut through our yard) but Katie lost it again when she realized they weren’t coming to our house: “I WANT TO GO WITH THEM!” Poor Katie bug.
Then it was in the car to head to the school for the Boo Hoo Breakfast!
Katie showing Charlie her new toy
Helping mom make brownies.
It’s about twice the amount of work because Katie wants to do everything (and can’t really do anything), she keeps putting all the utensils in her mouth, and neither one can actually stir. So it’s good it only takes about three minutes. This morning was extra fun because I forgot to pre-unwrap the chocolate candies, so Katie was having A MELTDOWN seeing all the chocolate and not being able to have any.
End of the summer pool party cookout!
Owen has REALLY been looking forward to the cookout and I was excited because Tom would be home so we could ALL go to the pool together for the last time. It was definitely warm enough and it looked like the rain was going to hold off for a bit, so we headed down after Katie’s nap.
Now, let me preface this by saying that when we go to the pool, there are typically just a handful of people there. As in maybe 3-6 other kids AT MOST (with parents)—and most of the time, there’s less. And when Owen and I went this past Saturday (the last Saturday before the pool closed for the season) we were the ONLY two people there (four total if you count the two lifeguards). And by the time we left two hours later, the only other people there were two older couples! I was baffled.
So today we walked in and HOLY SHIT there were a lot of people. As in “Wow, I guess there really are people who live here.” As in “If it was this busy all the time we wouldn’t come nearly as much.” There were lots of older annoying kids who didn’t much care that they were running into people or splashing people or just being overall obnoxious (and of course their parents weren’t doing anything about it). I heard the lifeguards’ whistles more today than all the other days combined. It was extremely chaotic.
The super annoying thing was that we had nowhere to sit when we got there. I felt like we should really have our names on some seats because we were there ALL THE TIME. All these other people NEVER went but were taking up all the seats for the free food. Well, at least that’s what it felt like. Literally the only seats that were open were in the kiddie pool area. Which was fine…just annoying.
So Tom was swimming with the kids and I was chatting with the mom I had hoped to see there (with the son in Owen’s class). And then I saw another mom I’d met at the pool previously (the ones that are moving this December) so we chatted a bit. And then Katie was coming down the pool steps behind me and I turned to see Tom behind us as well (just having moved our stuff to a table that had become free) and he was saying “Katie! Katie!” at some other little blonde girl wondering why she wasn’t stopping to listen to him. Well, it turns out her parents were right in front of me and Tom obviously had the wrong kid, so we laughed about it and started chatting and WOW, fingers crossed, they might just be our new best friends here. We just really hit it off—they have a 2.5yo girl with another on the way, they’re military (army), and they just moved here in late June so they don’t know anyone, either! And we instantly hit it off (as opposed to the other people we’ve met who are NICE but I just didn’t feel that instant connection with). So much so that we invited them to come sit at our table with us!
And then! Tom was sure he recognized a guy sitting across the pool. I told him it was all him—I’d done my part meeting moms. 🙂 So it turns out it’s someone he went to TBS with back in the day…AND THEY LIVE ON OUR STREET!! Small world, right? So we might end up with some good friends yet!
So then we had a little more fun in the pool and then Katie wanted to go home so as Tom was getting her packed up, Owen also decided he wanted to go home. I think it was just too chaotic for him (which I totally get).
Clone Dalek
After we watched a Doctor Who episode on Daleks, Owen created this. 🙂
ABCMouse Level 4 Graduation
He has had an on again off again enjoyment of ABCMouse this summer, but lately he’s been ON again so he’s almost finished with Level 4. We told him he’d get a prize if he finished the level before school started…and as he saw his percentage complete increase, he got more and more excited. Earlier in the week he was at 77%. Today he was at 99%.
And then moments later…
Congratulations, Owen!
She hid from me when I opened the door.
Someone wasn’t napping like she should have been.
Ikea kids
She likes minions, too!
These are also Owen’s old PJs…which I swear I had a picture of him wearing but couldn’t find one anywhere.
What a pout.
Owen found his race track!
I’m still trying to get the basement organized so was moving stuff around this morning…and he found his glow-in-the-dark race track. He and Katie played with it on and off all day, but he wanted to go down at night to actually see them race in the dark.
Katie getting ready and going into battle!
Owen helped Katie get ready for battle with a helmet (his bike helmet), a sword (pipe insulation), and shield (a push-up grip). The tutu was all Katie.
The last part of Owen counting to 100.
He was doing SO well on his own that I started recording…and then he kinda lost it a little bit…but finished with some help. You can tell he was getting VERY excited about getting to 100. 🙂
I don’t think he’ll have a problem mastering the Kindergarten first quarter expectations of counting to 10. 🙂
They LOVE this bear.
Kindergarten Expectations
This was included in Owen’s welcome packet. I know all kids achieve differently so the curriculum has to cater to the lowest level, but…
Recognize and name 7-8 letters?
Name all letters in first name?
Recite the alphabet? (Maybe I should have him do it backwards for her.) 🙂
Count to 10?
Read numerals 0-10?
I seriously hope he’s not bored to tears with the language arts and math.
I had considered sending the teacher a brief email alerting her that he’s more advanced in those areas (because I think it’s a 50/50 crap shoot if he shows he’s smart or just plays along), but on the advice of friends, I’ll be waiting a few weeks to give the teacher time to notice herself (friends say she’ll likely notice right away and give him advanced work). Of course I just want everything to go perfectly, but I don’t want to be a helicopter parent…so we’ll just see how it goes.