Highlights
- 3rd grade officially starts for Calan
- Evan does better at his “second” wheat challenge
Calan
We kicked off Calan’s official school year with an at-home assessment test. He did this as a requirement, but the nice part for him is he could do that at home in his comfies, making the process that much easier. Workshops didn’t start until later in the month but Mama and Calan worked on some “school” a few times in the Y lobby while Evan played in childcare. After their work session, Calan would get a chance to go swim in the pool. Math continues to be a strong area for him, and at this point he is doing a little math from every grade level, including geometry and pre-algebra. For workshops this term, he’s starting with sign language, band and a yoga class. We decided to go light on the workshops this term and let him just try some topics he would really enjoy. That said, not sure yoga will stick. 😉
A new basketball season was underway, and Calan decided he wanted to try it again. We’re hoping that with another couple months gone by since the last time (and a year older with turning 8!) that he’ll feel a little older and not the youngest guy on the D2 team. Although…the new NFL and college football seasons were underway, and he quickly got into playing football with Dada at the Y gym and the park. After a couple practices and the first basketball game, it was clear Calan wasn’t quite ready to conquer the anxiety that comes with playing in games. We chalked it up to a pretty strong association he still has with game-time (the gym, the people, the sounds and the intensity of the game). Without any pressure put on him, we decided to drop the season and see what else we could focus on sports wise. Initially, we’re looking at some more water activities. He tried the Y swim team one week. It was a lot more work than he’s ever done in the swim setting. I think he quickly learned it wasn’t for him, doing laps in the 25-yard length pool and not getting much time for rest. Of course, he could work up to the rigors of doing laps in the bigger pool but we could see right away he wasn’t getting much from the “competition” type of swimming. When asked what he thought after his first night with the “team”, he said it was easy. 😉 He also tried splashball and started a lifeguards class at the Y. We also got him signed up for the Kids Cardio Club at the Y, which allows him to use the exercise equipment during certain times in the fitness area. He absolutely loves trying out the high-tech machines and seeing how far he can go using one of the virtual courses (San Francisco is his favorite).
He’s had a lot of fun playing with cubes more this month. Lots of time with Troy at the Y, and even creating his own puzzle out of small colored blocks that kind of mimics a rubic’s cube. Many times when we’re in the lobby at the Y, Troy isn’t even there. Calan just enjoys sitting and solving his cubes. Other kids come by, and like magnets, are drawn to what Calan is doing. This month, he added an Ivy Cube to his collection.
Evan
Evan had a breakthrough in counting this month. For whatever reason whenever he’d try to count past 10 or 12, he would get mixed up or skip a number or two. Not anymore. He finally learned to count from 1-20 all the way through and quickly figured out how to count up to 40 afterward. The best part was how happy it made him. Along with his counting, he’s had fun going through the old counting and math software we had on an old laptop. He also memorized completely how to count to 10 in Spanish; another skill he couldn’t quite get all together in the past.
Towards the end of this month, Evan had another visit at the food allergy clinic in Long Beach. For the first time since the summertime, he challenged wheat again. He did fine this time as he’s basically getting a wheat dose every day these days. They sent him hope to continue that along with adding back in wheat germ daily doses. We’ll get there some day!
Notable quotes this month:
“Mama, can I have some more of thos … bug nuts?” Referring to pecans. He couldn’t remember what they’re called apparently.
“Evan, now that you’re older you can work on [fill in the blank].”
“I’m not older. I’m young!”
After coming home from the park: “Evan, don’t forget to put your scooter inside.”
“Why’s what’s the difference? It’s not gonna evaporate out here. Fine, I’m not asking for scooters anymore for Christmas!” …as he walked toward his scooter that he asked for Christmas and got from Santa last December.
“If there’s a female bubble, I’m going to marry that bubble.”
Evan started saying, “Come on, we’re brothers…” when he wants Calan to do something. Like, “Let’s play with wakie-talkies,” and Calan replies “No.” Evan will say, “Come oooon, we’re brothers” to help convince Calan to join him.
At his Dr. R visit he needed to change his pull-up before doing the “exercise” portion of his food challenge. When Mama asked that they go do it he impatiently said, “But changing my pull-up will delay my exercise!”