se habla espanol....

The doctor that completed Charlie's IQ tests suggested that we not take him back to the preschool he had been attending for a few reasons. Since he already knows most of the curriculum taught in most preschools, she really urged us to look for a preschool that was more play-based so he could learn that school is fun. I had a hard time finding a school that described themselves as play-based and the few schools that I did call had no interest in accepting Charlie and taking on a gifted child in their classroom. I had given up and decided to just enroll him in Kindermusik and The Little Gym so that he could still socialize and learn more about music and work on his gross motor skills. Eric on the other hand had been looking for Spanish classes in the area (for him to take)and he came across this Spanish immersion preschool. We made a visit to the school and talked to the teacher and decided that this would be the perfect place for Charlie. The teachers only speak Spanish during class. They also have a low teacher-student ratio and I loved their curriculum so we were sold on the idea.

As I heard all the talk about everybody going back to school, I was bummed that Charlie was going to miss out. I am so happy that we found this school and I hope that he loves it.

He had is first day today and was very excited to meet some new friends. The school is called Puentes Preschool. Charlie is usually very good at remembering a name or title of something, but he has trouble with this one and all weekend he kept asking when he was going to be able to go to Petunias Preschool. He had a great day, and as usual, the only thing he told me about the day was what they had for snack (lucky charm cookies, whatever those are!).

freehand scraps sneaks....

I took some time to scrap this week and got a few pages done with the September Freehand Scraps kit. I loved this kit, definitely one of my favorites! It has a ton of brand new product in it and of course Heidi always puts the cutest things together.

The kit will be available on the 1st and 8am CST. I have seen the sneak peeks from some of the other ladies and it looks like the gallery is going to be awesome this month. Don't forget to check it out!

cannon at 10 months.....

Another month has flown by and Cannon has made some big progress lately.

- He is getting 2 teeth on the top - not the two middle ones though. From the looks of it, he is going to have some fangs for a while.

- He is doing great at holding his own bottle. He used to like eating all snuggled in, but now he likes to be faced out so that he doesn't miss out on any of the action around him.

- He has started this loud growl. He will just do it out of the blue, but if you do it first he will imitate you. He is also screaming a lot. I think he is having fun finding his voice.

- He is a huge wiggle worm and has made changing his clothes and diaper a challenge.

- He gets cold easily and has to be bundled up at night. Even with socks his feet seem to be cold all the time.

- He is getting better at crawling. If you put him on the floor in the sitting position, he will be on his hands and knees in no time. He is not crawling long distances yet, but a few feet at a time.

- I would guess that he is approximately 19 pounds. He is wearing mostly 12 month clothes but I have been buying all 18 month clothes for the fall.

- He just started eating about 7 ounces of formula at each feeding. We are still struggling with baby food. His OT noticed that he does not seem to have the normal tongue reflexes that happen naturally so we have been doing some tongue exercises. Mostly just pushing a finger against the side of his tongue to get it to move.

- He had his first cold last week at the same time as his two top teeth were popping through. The poor little guy was absolutely miserable. He had no patience for getting his face wiped and he was a total mess.

- He can almost get to the sit position from his hands and knees. He has also pulled himself up a few times.

thinking about fall....

Even though it is supposed to be 100 degrees today, my mind has been drifting to the fall. I LOVE the fall. It is my favorite season by far. Besides that, I have been thinking about what I would like to do for Cannon's first birthday. I know it will be low-key with just a small get together for the grandparents, but I would still like to come up with a little theme and some fun details. I don't have any ideas that I love. Maybe something fall themed?

The other thing on my mind is Halloween. You may remember halloween last year. I swore that we were going to simplify things this year. So much for that. Does anybody want to give me any ideas on how I am going to make my 4 year old look like this:

another milestone reached.....

I wanted to say thank-you to all of you who left me comments and e-mailed me about Cannon last week. After hearing from several of you about getting his ears checked, I decided to take him to the doctor to get looked at. The doctor was not able to find anything wrong and basically just told me to deal with it. He actually is a very nice doctor, but unfortunately did not have any magic secrets to share with me. Bummer. Of course, I am happy that he is healthy...I just wish he was a little happier! His OT suggested that his seratonin levels may be out of whack. One way to help with this is to do joint compressions and to softly squeeze his arms and legs every two hours or so. It is supposed to release seratonin in his body and hopefully over time his body will learn to regulate the seratonin levels on its own. We are still in the early stages of this, but it does seem to be helping a little bit. The OT said it usually takes a few weeks to show big results. I am hoping and praying that this will make a big difference.

In other BIG news, Cannon did crawl a few feet for the first time on Monday!! He is still getting it all figured out and he is not setting any speed records quite yet, but he is doing it! I am so, so proud of the little dude. I guess we better get started on getting the house baby-proofed. I have a feeling he is going to be getting in lots of trouble very soon. :)

we will figure it out.....

I have been doing a lot of reminiscing lately about this silly boy -

He has grown up so much in the last 10 months. I remember when he came to visit me at the hospital before Cannon was born and he was still my baby. Now when I look at him, all signs of babyhood are gone and I see a little man. Everyday he surprises me and makes me laugh out loud. Most days, I simply cannot believe that he is only four years old by the things he says and does.


We knew that it was pretty incredible that Charlie was reading at 3 years old. We also noticed other characteristics in him such as an incredible memory and vocabulary, that his interests are intensely focused, he prefers to hang out with adults rather, he is extremely sensitive and he is a perfectionist....all characteristics of giftedness. Many people over the last 6 months have suggested that we get him tested. I was hesitant for two reasons really. The first was that is pretty expensive and I just wasn't sure. The second was that I didn't really want a label placed on him. He has had many labels hanging over his head since he was born and I didn't want to add another. I was also in denial. I kept thinking that one day he was just going to snap out of it and would act like a "normal" kid. Finally, after realizing that he was going to be incredibly bored in school if we didn't do something now, we decided to get him tested. His results did show that he is in the gifted range and he is reading at the 3rd-4th grade level.

I am glad that I waited a little bit before I wrote down all my thoughts on this because I have to admit that I was very emotional the first few days after we got the results. I think it had finally set in that Charlie is different. The psychologist that completed the test told us that many parents go through a grieving process after they learn about their child's giftedness. I completely understood. All I could think about was how Charlie was not going to have a normal school experience and that he was going to be different than most other kids. I know that it doesn't necessarily have to be that way forever, but it is that way now. His interests are so different than other 4 year olds that he knows. He wants to play with the other kids his age but they never really seem to click. The doctor also told us that most people will not understand and they will think that giftedess just means that your kid is smart. She said we will probably feel a lot of judgment from other parents about the way that we raise Charlie. I am sad to say it, but of the few people that I have talked to about it, most have not really understood. They just act like "So what? So your kid is smart, what is the big deal?"

I don't want it to come off like I think this is a negative thing. This is who Charlie is. He is sweet and sensitive. He is so much fun to be around. He makes me laugh, cry, worry and freak out. He drives me crazy sometimes. He is passionate and loving. And yes, he is smart. I wouldn't change a thing about him. What I do need to change is the way that I think about this situation. Who cares if he doesn't have a "normal" childhood? As long as he always feels loved and accepted for who he is. That is what is important. I know I can do that. As far as eveything else? We will figure it out.

what we've been up to.....

Not much, really! But here is a little update...

Lately, instead of spending as much time on the computer, I have been up to my eyeballs in flannel. It all started with a sale at JoAnn's when they had all their flannel half off. After making a few rag quilts for gifts I decided that maybe I should make a few more to sell at our neighborhood holiday bazaar coming up in November. Then, my mom and I stopped at the quilt store and found a cute pattern for a purse that we worked on for most of the day Sunday. It turned out really cute so I will have to take some photos to post. My sewing skills are very basic but I have been enjoying it so much these past few weeks I think I may look in to taking some classes.

We have received some pretty big news about Charlie. I am working on another post all about that and will share soon. We are trying to figure out a lot of things right now.

Cannon has been having a rough few weeks. At first I just thought it was teething, but now I am at a loss. I met with his OT today and she is thinking that it is something to do with sensory issues. He is still having a hard time self-soothing and is just so high maintenance. I have been very discouraged but just keep praying that we will turn the corner any minute now. He does have his 2 bottom teeth in now and is SO close to crawling. He gets up on his hands and feet and sticks his bum way up in the air. Or if he is on a soft surface (like our bed) he will plant his face down and then just push himself along on his face. It is the funniest thing. He also just started doing this little scrunch face when he smiles now - it is so cute. I am hoping to catch a picture of it. (That would require I have my camera out which I have not done in the past 2 weeks! I know, total mommy guilt!)

Eric has been working hard wrapping up his management training at Enterprise. The final interview to become eligible for management is a four part process that is spread out over two weeks. He will take the final written exam on the 11th. He is hoping to get promoted out of the Airport branch for a while as the schedule is taking a toll on him. Hopefully soon!!

The August Freehand Scraps kit is up for sale. It is a cute one that is full of the Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday line. I had fun incorporating a little pink into my boy pages! :)