We're In "The Big Leagues" Now....

Back to it - it is now the end of August and the madness begins! This Mommy is one tired girl....but since it's a pretty significant day, I thought I better write about it! Paul's first day of kindergarten was today and it started at 4:30 am when he decided he wasn't tired anymore and wanted to read books. So, needless to say, *I* was up along with him running around and trying to get everything ready for the day....lunchbox, papers/folder, bookbag.....oh yeah, MY stuff.....and we were out the door at 7am after a couple of pictures!

It felt nice to be able to bring Paul with me and not drop him off anywhere. He was so excited, and at first he wanted to stay with me in my classroom when it was time for him to go to his temporary class. I walked him down....he was ready to talk to everyone he came across! Once I got him to his room, he was happy to be there and he settled in by the time I left. Nope, didn't take any pics in the classroom, and I didn't even cry when I left him. I think I did all my crying at his WCDC graduation. I'm glad that I can be here with him this year. I won't be next year, since our new middle school will be finished, but I'll be closer, anyway.  Today was a day of assessing and getting the kids accumulated to the schedule, etc.....then they assigned the students to their actual teacher.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that post was started around August 27, 2014, and I didn't get to finish it. I was about to delete it, but it was interesting to remember my take on the first day of school and how crazy it was that morning.

So, let's fast forward. It is now June 14, 2015. Paul graduated from kindergarten, and he is now a first grader, or will be in August. He had wonderful teachers - Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Kornegay!!! We had him going to resource for 3 hours everyday in case he needed it for transition purposes, but he never needed it. He was with his class all day long, and he fit in fine. Paul excelled in his class - he came in reading at a high level, and he made improvements in writing and his comprehension. He knows his math facts and worked very hard this year. Although the homework for him this year was nothing to compared the homework he had at WCDC! :) He is definitely ready for first grade.

The end of the school year was hard for him - he cried when they were getting their nametags off of their desk, and had a semi-meltdown after awards in the classroom. He just doesn't want things to change or to grow up!! I feel ya, Paul.....seems like it's happening all too quickly!

                                                                                            
Without going into detail, this school year was the most challenging one of my 24 years of teaching; and then on top of that, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July. She passed away December 20, 2014, at home and surrounded by my sisters and me. Paul was with her a lot, and I was glad that he got to spend so much time with her. I am sad that he won't have his Grandmother Hunter to spend time with in the summer, like his other cousins were blessed to have. He "kind of" understands that she is no longer with us physically. To say I miss her greatly is the biggest understatement of the century....she was my best friend, and I miss being able to call and talk to her, update her on what Paul is doing and getting advice on everything under the sun. It has been an adjustment for all of us, but I know that it has brought my sisters and I closer together, as we have had to resolve numerous issues together. And we celebrated Duke's National Championship together with Mom's picture wearing Dad's Duke cap....I know they were both with us (as well as other family members) in Turkey!!

Next school year is going to be another transition for Paul; besides moving up a grade level, he will also be going to a new school. Not sure which one yet - depends on where I'll be teaching which is still a work in progress....more news on that later.

....Almost a year later....

JUNE 8, 2014
I think it's pretty hilarious (and fitting) that this is called a Mommyhood blog.....because what MOMMY has the time to maintain a blog like she would truly like to??  Oh, I know there are mothers out there who do it, and more power to them. I just can't find the time during the school year. Now that this one is winding down, there's a lot of changes in the air and it's almost kind of therapeutic to write them out, so here goes.

Let's just get it all out of the way....PAUL IS FIVE! HE IS GROWING UP! HE IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED A PRESCHOOLER! Am I happy about this? In some ways, yes.....give me some time and I might be able to come up with some reasons why I am happy.....but I'm actually a sentimental mess about the whole thing. And scared. Paul graduated from Wayne Child Development Center on June 6th....here's the diploma to prove it and the cap and gown picture....

It was so well done and was a screaming reminder to me that although he is moving on to a new chapter in his life next fall, it is so important that we embrace and love these little spirits now and make the most of them each and every day that they are with us. Paul doesn't want to grow up....each of the children in his class got up and told their name, where they were going to school next year, and what they want to be when they grown up. Paul said (quite clearly) "My name is Paul, I'm five years old, I'm going to Grantham, and I want to be myself." That's my boy.

I am so grateful for his two years at WCDC.....and I am not ashamed to advertise for them in any way.....if you are looking for a quality preschool for your child, this IS the place. Paul has made some amazing growth this year, had amazing teachers who truly love what they do and the children they teach, and I am determined to keep working with him this summer to help him continue that growth. Mrs. Tangi and Ms. Kasey make an awesome team. :) I will miss them!

So, next year, Paul will be starting kindergarten. It's exciting and scary all at the same time - it opens a brand new chapter in his life, and I want it to be a good experience for him. At his IEP meeting last month, we decided to give Paul maximum time with a resource teacher to see how he adjusts to this transition.....so we're going to start with 3 hours and see how it goes. If he needs that to be adjusted to less, then we'll change it. It is truly hard to know how he will react. So far he has done great with new places and he was so excited to be going to Grantham when I took him there for registration. But it's going to be a new setting for him - having to adjust to more students in a classroom and less specialized care....and oh my, the naps. He needs those naps. That is SOOOOOO apparent on Sundays, because we are on the afternoon schedule (1-4pm) and it is soooo hard for him.

I love this time of year when you know summer vacation is just about to begin, but it hasn't started....and so now I'm making plans and setting goals for myself this summer:

1. Start my 5K training again. I started last July and was running it in about 35 minutes (pretty good, considering I had never seriously thought I could EVER run in my whole entire life) and actually ENJOYED IT! I really felt healthy and good about myself when I was running, and after I ran my first race......I stopped. It got cold. I got lazy and completely lost all the progress I made in those three months I started training. So it's back to square one....planning to start next week after my workdays are finished.
2. Keep Paul involved with other activities this summer - one thing he really needs is to be around other kids his age and involved with different activities. So I've signed him up for a summer reading program at the library, he'll also continue going to Kindermusik once a week, and I also am going to sign him up for private swimming lessons. He's not quite swimming and still wants to hold me in a death grip when he gets in the water, even though he LOOOVES to go to the pool....so it's time to help him be more independent in the water and enjoy it. He'll also be going to Kid Kollege 2x a week once I get finished with my workdays at school.
3. READ. Sooooooo many books that I want to read, so little time....

 JUNE 13
I had to stop because it was getting really late, and I was starting to ramble (what else is new?). School is officially over for me now - I woke up this morning at 6am in a panic thinking I had to get a shower and get ready for school. It always takes me about a week to wind down from it all because I feel so crazy busy the other 10 months of the year! Paul has been going to Kid Kollege this week, and although he's not happy to get up and cries when I tell him he has to go, he's always happy when I pick him up and everyone talks about what a good day he had.

So today, I'm taking in some "me time" - got the oil changed in my car after I dropped Paul off at day care, and my plans are to READ.....sign Paul up swimming lessons at the Y, and see "Fault in Our Stars" and bawl like a baby. :)  A little bit of heaven... HAPPY SUMMER, EVERYONE!!

HAPPY SUMMER!

At least it's only about 3 months since I've written in here last. I look at how fast time is going by...I know that this is a recurring theme in my posts....but I just think how fast this past school year has gone by. And then I think about Paul, and what a year means to him. Seems like the younger you are, the more that year means. Next year at this time we will be preparing him for Kindergarten. He will be going to school with me! That just seems too weird to write.

Ok. So I'm going to stop obsessing about how much Paul has grown up and just write. In the last several months, he has really developed a hilarious sense of humor. I mean, not just ha ha that's funny....I mean, he'll say and do things that make you sincerely belly-laugh. He is really developing quite a personality, and I love being around him. Even during those times when he is being 4 and doesn't want his hand to be held in the parking lot, or when he runs off in church and I am frantically searching the halls trying to find him.....I'm learning the true meaning of patience, but at night when I tuck him into bed, say our prayers and hear him say "I love you, Mom"....well, that makes it ALL WORTH IT.

This summer, Paul is going back to Kid Kollege for two days a week (Tues/Thurs). He is very happy to be back - he is always happy when I pick him up and seems very content on the days that he is supposed to go. Same during the school year at WCDC. I am so grateful that he goes to child care places where he is truly loved and taken care of.  Because tomorrow (Thursday)  is a holiday, the director told me that he was welcome to come either Wednesday or Friday...I told her I didn't think we would come, but she said that he was welcome either day. Paul woke up this morning saying he wanted to go to Kid Kollege, and since I didn't have anything planned, I decided to take him. The main reason that I am having him go to Kid Kollege this summer is that he craves companionship....he wants to be around other children. When he's home, he doesn't just sit down and play with toys....he wants to be around me or watching TV or playing the iPad.....so he needs that social interaction with those his age and the chance to PLAY.

I am taking him to Kindermusik on Mondays for an hour.....he loves to be active and play and move around to the music - especially when they are given the scarves and "go up and down", as he puts it. It's a challenge keeping him focused for the other types of "artsy" activities that they might do, like a little painting or creating a puppet. So this sometimes makes me wonder WHY in the world did I sign him up for art camp in a couple of weeks???  I have found, though, that he works better when I'm NOT there.....which is kind of frustrating because shouldn't his *mother* be able to see all that he is capable of doing??? The art camp is a drop-off event for 4 days, and Miss Karen is an awesome, PATIENT leader who has the ability to engage Paul.  Hopefully he will enjoy the three hours he has with the other children.

Paul's got some appointments coming up.....he had a physical in May for his 4th year.....4 shots....(not fun). We discussed getting Paul tested with a genetics specialist just to see if there's anything noteworthy in the findings....and so that has been scheduled for September. It has been mentioned by his teachers that he might have a little bit of Aspberger's in him....he is visually stimulating himself by running books and toys up against his face. I've asked him why he does that, and he says "It makes me happy!" We also discussed having him specifically tested for Aspbergers by a behavioral specialist right here in Goldsboro, so that will be scheduled as soon as I turn in the paperwork. He is also going to an opthamologist to take another look at his vision and see if there are any factors affecting his visual stimming....AND, the next day he will be going to the dentist for the first time. Wow! Lots going on.....plus we are going to Boone next week for a 4-day family vacation....we went to Tweetsie in early June when Thomas was there but we didn't get to spend as much time there as we would have liked. So we're getting a hotel room and will also be visiting caverns and doing some swimming and other fun stuff. Much-needed family time!
 

 

 

Here is his first official school picture...I am grateful for his teachers, because his hair is actually combed and not sticking up. :) Plus they were able to achieve the impossible....making him look AT the camera, smile and sit in the same place for an extended amount of time. Wow. That's not an easy task. They really deserve an award, or something.

 

I guess I'll end this now....time to get on with my day and READ. That seems to be all I want to do this summer....I've been reading Stephen King's 11/22/63 for oh....about a YEAR. That's what I get for taking on an 800 page book. During the school year. It really is a great book - the problem is, I can't really read it when Paul is with me and when I sit down to read in the evenings I'm so tired that I might get a chapter read. Which isn't much when you consider how many pages that is. I've also been reading some other (shorter) books that have been recommended to me of the YA genre....so ANYWAY, I AM going to finish this book....IN THE NEXT WEEK. I'm ready to move on with my life (plus it's really getting interesting....)

 

Until next time....



Better Late Than Never...

Wow...that went by fast! I actually started this post back in July.....and instead of completely starting over, I thought I would just roll with what I already have. I'm happy to say that the last nine months or so have been very low-key and drama-free. We've all stayed healthy - no major sicknesses or injuries (well, read below...that was kind of scary....and for Adam's mishap while vacuuming a little over a month ago.....dislocated a finger)....and it's been a busy school year for me, but all in all, life is good! So here's some highlights of what's been going on.....

Swimming Lessons!
As mentioned, last summer Paul took a Lil Pike class at the YMCA - he had one other student in his class and his teacher was one of my former students! I knew that I recognized her from somewhere....people look different when they have wet hair, though! :)  Anyway, I noticed after the first class that Paul had trouble waiting for his turn to work with the teacher, and so it was a great excuse for me to get in the water with him and work on the skills that teacher was working on with him. He has improved a great deal since the beginning - at first, he would cling to whoever was holding him, now he would rather be splashing around on his own. He can kick and move his arms using a noodle around his tummy all by himself when he REALLY wants to. His instructor said that he was ready for the next class (Pike), but we could also keep him in Lil Pike if we want to. Not sure what I'll do....I'd like him to take some more lessons later this fall, since he loves it so much, but I'll have to look at my schedule and see what I can do.  We also went to the beach twice and he LOOOOVES the ocean. Forget playing in the sand or looking for shells....this boy loves the water and the waves! He knows no fear, though - he would crash into the waves if we didn't hold him back!

Head Staples!
Ok, so that's not really a HIGHlight....but it was significant. We were actually on our way to a swimming lesson when he got ahead of me and started down the steps of the garage. I looked up and saw that he lost his balance and started going forward....in slow motion, I saw his perfect forward roll down the brick steps.  He got a pretty deep gash in the back of his head and scraped up his back....we took him to the doctor (thank goodness they were still around) and he received four staples in his head! We had to take a break from swimming lessons for a few days, but that worked out because he was able to have the teacher all to himself!

WCDC!
That would be Wayne County Child Development Center. At the beginning of August, I got a call from the EC Department in Wayne County, letting me know that there was a spot open at the preschool if we were interested in enrolling Paul. And ofcourse, we jumped on it. He is with certified Pre-K teachers, and is able to get his services at the center (speech and occupational therapy). He loves it, and his teachers love him. Mrs. Janice says that he's the reason she gets up in the morning! The growth I have seen in him is PHENOMENAL....he has made so much progress in so many areas, it's impossible to describe them all. He definitely has no problems verbalizing his feelings or what he wants to do, and he's starting to respond to questions like, "did you have a good day at school today?". His sense of humor has really come out....one day we were getting ready to go on a field trip, and Paul was really excited. He left his classroom and started running up and down the hall at school, and his teacher asked him if he had his "listening ears" on. He reached up and acted like he was turning them, and said "I turned them off!"  Plus, we are 95% potty trained. That 5% is when I forget to take him before he sits down to eat....for some reason, he decides that's when he's supposed to go.....?

Learning Like Crazy!
He is already starting to spell simple words that fit a pattern, like "cat", "bat", and other patterns....and he can spell his name. He's not really into writing or coloring, or drawing....he would rather watch someone else do the work. This summer I bought an iPad to use for school, and he loves it....there are so many apps out there for him, and it has helped him with putting puzzles together....and he loves reading books. It's part of our nightly routine to read and I've been going to the library, as well. He'll be going to WCDC next fall as part of the preschool program again, and then....wow, after next year he'll be going to KINDERGARTEN!

This summer, he'll be going to Kid Kollege again a couple of days a week. I want him to be around other children and it will also give me the chance to do things around the house that I need to do, make dr appts, or whatever I need to do. I am definitely looking forward to this summer....hard to believe only 3 more months....need a break!!!

Sing Me a Song!
Favorite songs to sing have been.....
"A Bicycle Built for Two" - we would sing it silly while he is on the potty or in his chair eating. It's probably the first song he learned to sing by himself.
"Big Black Horse in a Cherry Tree" - He started laughing during the "No no no"s and would repeat it a lot at home....
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" - I started singing it to him when he didn't want to get in the bathtub, and it would make him laugh because I would sing the chorus to him in a funny voice and it would distract him from what we were actually doing.....then, ofcourse, he doesn't want to get OUT of the bathtub when it's time....
"I Can't Drive 55" - Ok....so the story behind this is, Laura, Kai, Paul, and I were on our way to Fayetteville and that song came on the radio. We ended up turning it up because well, it's a jamming song, and one thing led to another and we were all singing it at the top of our lungs. I was driving, and Paul and Kai were in the backseat. I turned my head to the right, and I see PAUL almost in the front seat - his seatbelt had come undone (I don't think Kai had it fastened all the way to begin with) while we were going down the road!  I freaked out....but Paul was having a blast hearing us sing this song. So now every once in a while we'll belt the song out at home. He knows all the words, except we sing "I'm going to throw your CAN in the city joint...." :)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - this is one of his new favorites, especially the opera part. Again, we were in the car - it was just Paul and I this time, and we were headed to Turkey. He thought it was the funnest song ever, and now he's singing the opera part at home. It's funny what they pick up on. Oh, and the Wayne's World head bob is another favorite part of the mayhem.

As shown above, he's singing other songs too...and it seems like everyday he comes home from school singing songs he's learning from there. I love that he enjoys music as much as I do - sometimes we just like to sing and be silly!

Well, I think this is where I'm going to end it now. Hopefully it won't be another 8 months before I write in here again! I am glad that I have kept writing in here, because time goes by so fast and it's so easy to forget the little things....so, until next time....

BLINK! IT'S THE END OF JUNE!

Wow....how did that happen? It feels like I wrote that last entry yesterday! So, here we are, at the end of June. School is over, we're in the throes of summer, with our first triple-digit temps of the summer, and I am chillaxing and enjoying every second of it! We started off with a trip on June 9th to Tweetsie Railroad to see and ride on Thomas.

To say that Paul was excited would be a big understatement - he had a serious look on his face the whole time, but he still hasn't stopped talking about it! He really had a great time. This was the first time that either Adam or I had been to Tweetsie (that I can remember, anyway....we might have went when I was younger..??) and we were very impressed at how kid-friendly the whole park is. Paul had a BLAST on the Mixer and the Tilt-a-Whirl....threw minor fits when the ride ended because he didn't want to get off! We also....

rode on the sky lift.......

rode the carousel......

took a ferris wheel ride....

climbed on and slid down the Thomas inflatable.....

took pictures with the one and only Sir Topham Hatt......

and just had an overall great time!!

There were some things that we didn't get to do, like visit the jail, saloons, etc.....so we will be going back next year!

To back up in time a little bit, Paul had his preschool evaluation through the school system in March. He qualified for speech therapy, developmental delay, and occupational therapy - they didn't waste any time working with him, so he had about a month or so of services before they stopped for the summer. I think that it's important for Paul to keep a schedule this summer, so he's going to daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays this summer. He needs to be around other children and have some structured time to play.  In December I'll start the process of enrolling him in the Pre-K program for the following fall...I will need to see where he can attend a daycare setting that also has the Pre-K program because he will need after-school services since Adam and I don't get off work in time to get him. I've also signed up for Parents As Teachers, which is a lot like the play therapy he had through the Infant Toddler program - it's totally free, and is just another resource to work with Paul some more. When I was talking with his evaluators through WCPS, they felt that he would be on track by the time he's 8 years old or maybe even before. 

Potty-training is proving to be quite the challenge....and it's not the fault of anyone, really. I haven't been able to have a consistent day home with Paul in a while. I had all these plans to have Paul trained by this time, but it just didn't work out. At about 1am on Friday 6/14, I woke up with what I at first thought were gas pains. I went to the bathroom, but it just didn't do anything.....couldn't get comfortable and the pain became worse and went around to my back. Adam said he thought it could be my gallbladder and then I got sick.....and we decided I had better go to the emergency room to find out what's going on. Adam called his mom and as soon as she got there to watch Paul, we were out the door to the hospital. After lots of waiting around (they were able to get me in an ER room and on some pain killers/fluids in the meantime) I was able to get an ultrasound and we found that I had some gallstones and my gallbladder was inflamed. So the next day I had yet ANOTHER surgery to remove my gallbladder - it was done laparoscopically (is that a word and if it is I have no clue how to spell it??). Thankfully, it wasn't very intrusive and I've been able use the last two weeks to take it easy and recover with Paul in daycare. Needless to say, the potty-training has been temporarily put on hold...but after talking to his teacher, he's been going with the other kids in his class. Next week he will be in his "big boy" underwear and only in pull-ups at night, so hopefully he'll be on track by the end of the summer.

I've signed Paul up for swimming lessons for two weeks starting July 9th....it should be interesting - it will be the first swimming class that he's had without me going in the water with him. It will be hard to watch at first because it's just my natural instinct to want to be in the water with him when he's at a pool. He loves the bathtub, and loves the shower, so hopefully he'll have a good experience.

As I write this, a year ago today Dad passed away. Hard to believe that it's been a year already....Paul still remembers him when he sees pictures of him and calls him Granddaddy. I miss him very much and it makes me sad that Paul will never get to know what a wonderful, extraordinary man his Granddaddy was and is. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him and even see some of my dad in Paul. I see some of Dad's sense of humor in Paul - he loves to tease and joke: On the morning of his birthday, while I was getting Paul ready for daycare, we were talking about how old he turned that day. So I would tell Paul that he was three today....."How old are you, Paul?"   "I'm three!!".....welll, as I was getting him out of the car that morning to go into daycare, I asked him again...."How old are you, Paul?" and he looked at me with this big grin on his face and said "One!" And then he laughed, and I couldn't help but think of Dad because that was just the type of thing he would do.  

Well, I think I've written a book this time, so I guess I had better get moving since there's things I need to get done. Until next time....!!

Feb 2012

So far, 2012 is shaping up to be a pretty good year.....although at the moment I'm very bored! But it's a "good bored" because I am currently recovering from my second surgery in the reconstruction process. Last Thursday (the 16th) I was put to sleep for hopefully the last time in a long time. They replaced my hard, ungiving, stiff tissue expanders with soft, much kinder, gel implants. They also did a liposuction procedure where they went in to my abdomen and moved some of my fat to fill in areas above my breasts. I could tell the difference the second I woke up - no more metal bars across my chest!! I could breathe and move a lot easier, and I just felt like a new person. I'm still experiencing pain at the incision sites and have a lot of bruising, but they will heal. I am just looking forward to feeling like a normal human being again. I will most likely return to school on March 5....so I plan to rest up and prepare myself for the last stretch of the school year!

Paul is scheduled for his preschool screening on March 13. At this time, they will test him and see what services he is eligible for through the Wayne County School System, since he will be turning 3 at the end of April. The major concerns I have at this time are his speech - there are some sounds that he has difficulty saying, and there's times when he's saying words but I just don't know what he's trying to say. But he is communicating with Adam and me all the time, and I love to sit down and play with him. He continues his obsession with Thomas and Friends - with our tax money, we purchased some more of the trains (they talk and beep at him!) and he will take them to bed with him. At first I was worried that he wouldn't go to sleep or that he would roll on them or something, but I think it's more of a security thing to have them to play with when he wakes up. He's been relatively healthy this winter season - I think he's only had one ear infection, and that was in November. He goes back to the ENT in March, where we will again assess his hearing and see if he is in need of a second set of tubes. He's had fluid, but as long as it's not affecting his hearing, there's no need to give him another set. Hard to believe that he's going to be 3 before we blink our eyes!!!

Time to move around a little bit.....till next time!

Goodbye 2011!

As I sit here and think about the last 12 weeks of my life, it's amazing how so much can happen and how fast it all goes by! I am officially a cancer survivor now! That REALLY sounds weird when I write that, but it is what it is. Since I shared my last blog post and let everyone know about what was happening to me, I've found that this is something that is most definitely not rare in the least bit. Just about everyone I know has a family member or friend that has had some sort of breast cancer....I mean, 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer at some point in their life. And if it runs in your family, then it's 1 in 4. Early detection is the key and what kind of freaks me out about the whole thing is that DCIS is something that can't be found through a regular breast exam. I am 43 and I'm SUPPOSED to be getting mammograms now....but what about the women who are not yet 40??

So here's what I remember from my experience: Adam, my mom, my friend Letty and her husband Tony from VA, were at the hospital October 12....Beth dropped in before they rolled me back. I remember the IVs, and the needle being inserted in my right breast for the sentinel node biopsy...that wasn't very comfortable, but the pain didn't last very long and I remember thinking that it was a piece of cake compared to labor! :) They gave me a pill and a patch to put behind my ear for nausea....I remember saying goodbye to everyone as they wheeled me back....they laid me on the operating table and the mask went over my face.....and that's all she wrote. The next thing I remember is I'm in another place feeling HOT and very out of it. Both doctors came back to check on me, and I remember them saying that everything went great. The preliminary report from the biopsy was that they didn't find anything but we would know more in a couple of days. I was very groggy - I would drift back to la-la land and finally started to feel a little more normal once I stopped sweating. Then I got cold and then hot again and started feeling nauseated....I can only wonder what it would have been like if I didn't have the patch or pill.

They wheeled me in to my room later that evening....and the next several days are kind of all a blur to me.....I was up and walking the next morning around 7am and I was at my mom's house in Turkey around 1:45 that afternoon. I remember Dr. Dillala calling me on Friday to officially let me know that they got all of it and that I was officially cancer free and would not need any other treatment, other than reconstruction. Massive relief and thanksgiving! The next several days consisted of recording how much drainage fluid was in the bulbs and taking a lot of pain meds. I read a lot and rested....when I went back to the plastic surgeon that Monday they took out the drainage plugs....(NOT FUN but at least I WAS FREEEEEEE!!!)

By far, the most frustrating thing for me was not knowing what I was supposed to be doing while I was recuperating. The whole time, I'm hearing "don't overdo it"...."take it slow and don't try to do too much"....A nurse had told me that she had a friend who lifted her 2 year old son, and her implant went down to her armpit!!! ACK!...and so when I went in my first "blow up" two weeks later, I wasn't expecting the nurse to be concerned that I didn't have a lot of range of motion and I was "guarding" myself....they put some fluid in me, and it was very tight and painful.....she sent me to a physical therapist in Raleigh right away. By this time, it was hard to walk or breathe deeply because I was beginning to feel some muscle spasms in my chest. I was so thankful that I had brought Mom with me, otherwise I really would have had a rough time! The physical therapist saw me for a consult, and recommended that I find a therapist in Goldsboro to see a few times a week.....meanwhile, she showed me some stretches that would help loosen me up. I was in SOOOOO MUCH pain that evening....getting in and out of the car was a 10 minute process and it hurt to breathe at all. That first blow up was by far the hardest part of the whole process.

Once I made it through that night and started doing the stretches the next day, I was much better and able to move around.....the biggest threat at that point for me was lymphodema, and I had to have scar release and stretches 3x a week. Those are the things that got me through the whole ordeal....and for the next two "blow ups" it got better and better each time. I was released from physical therapy last week (the week before Christmas - Merry Christmas to me!) and I am back to normal activity. I was out of school for six weeks....the first week was really hard getting back in the swing of things. I was very tired by the end of the day, but it got better and better each week.

OK....so that's an update on ME. Paul did very well while I was recovering. Adam got to spend a lot of Daddy time with him, and I think the whole experience created a special bond between the two of them. Like I thought, Paul didn't understand what was going on with me, and wanted me to do the regular things with him once I got home.....and I would say "So sorry" and explain to him that Mommy has an "owie".....and he would repeat "so sorry" back to me and giggle. It was very cute, actually.....and it took awhile, but I was glad when I was able to sit him on my lap and read to him like normal, and change his diapers....and finally when I could put him in the car seat. Transferring him is still a little difficult, but he's to the stage now where he can for the most part climb up in his seat by himself and all I have to do is buckle him in. That is, when this 2-year old WANTS to. There's time that I have to deal with the kicking and screaming because he doesn't want to sit in the chair, but it's one of those things I've learned to deal with.

He's been doing a lot of the temper tantrum type stuff the last couple of months especially and I've learned what it means to take a deep breath and let him work it out for himself....he's still learning how to communicate and I try to help him find the words for how he's feeling when he gets in that "mode"....and then redirecting him because he DOES have a two year old attention span, thank goodness. I've also been able to count, and he knows that if I get to three, then Mommy takes over and he has to do what I want, so usually by the time I get to "two" he's moved away or is coming to me. Most of the time, he's got a very sweet temperament and is truly a joy to be around....it's just when he's really tired that he can get difficult.

This weekend we're going to try the potty-training thing by just going cold turkey from diapers and putting on big boy underwear. I'm going to be prepared with lots of replacement clothes, and we're just going to try it to let him have the experience of being diaper-free and see if he's ready. If he's not, then we'll try again when I have another break in April...Stay tuned!