Connor was a cowboy for Western Day at school today.  He was so excited about the dress-up that he asked to change into the costume as soon as we came downstairs in the morning.  He even enjoyed posing for me to take pictures when we arrived at school.  He has been learning little facts about cowboys the past week, and has learned to say hello like a cowboy holding his cowboy hat too. 

    Connor had a fun day.  He told us that they had marshmallow for snack, and played a horse game and Pin the Donkey.  He made a comment that his hat came off easily when he was running around in the playground.  I guess he was wearing the costume all day, and he was still in it when I picked him up, and he wore it again after dinner until shower time.

   This is Kaiser Santa Clara’s 50th anniversary this year, thus the photo booth at last weekend’s festival was themed for this occasion.  Here were the two photos we took. 

    I took Connor to his routine dental visit last week.  Connor was very good throughout the entire experience.  He was happy to be there and followed every instruction given by the hygienist.  He even had the x-rays taken.  Connor did not have any cavities and he was excited to get his reward afterward.  He sorted through the box of toys for a long time and finally settled on a toy motorcycle.  It was a successful visit and I felt that it was partly because Connor had a good hygienist this time.  She was nice and was great with kids.  As a result, I decided to request this hygienist for Logan’s visit today.

    Logan and I drove over to the dental office after school today.  He was fine about the visit, but he did add that he hoped he would not receive a shot there (based on his memory of the flu shot at the hospital yesterday).  As soon as we walked in, Logan was nicely surprised to see the iPad there for playing, and got some minutes of playtime while we waited.  When it was Logan’s turn to get his teeth cleaned, he followed in and sat down to watch TV on the ceiling.  But when the hygienist wanted to start cleaning his teeth, Logan covered his mouth with his hand.  Fortunately with the good hygienist, she talked to Logan and showed him all the tools.  He quickly agreed and let her and later the dentist to do their job.  Logan also did not have any cavities.  Dentist suggested that one of his teeth might be slightly wiggly, and would be the next to fall out.  He also informed that Logan would have some molars coming out soon, and advised us the importance of brushing all the way inside.  Logan also had a chance to look through the box and decided on a toy jet for his reward.  He was excited with this toy as he is hoping to use it along with an “Air Force” card on me in the Memoir 44 game next time.

     We started the day with Raz’s birthday party this morning at Pump It Up.  The boys were excited about going to play at the bouncy houses and seeing Rohan too. As soon as we were let in the playroom, both boys were immediately drawn to the big blocks on the ground.  They spent a lot of time building with those, and even Rohan joined them when he arrived.  A long while later the boys finally migrated over to play in other bouncy houses.  Between the two playrooms, Connor went down the slides several times while Logan still preferred just the jumpy houses where he played with basketball or battling.  Later Stuart and I played a game of ice hockey, and the boys played one too.  When we were moved onto the party room, all of us ate well before saying goodbye to our friends.

   
     Afterward, we drove over to my hospital for the annual Fall Family Festival.  We arrived before the start of the event, but the line had already formed.  We lined up at the registration just right in front of Thuy and Thai, so we chatted.  Afterward we headed straight over to get flu shots where we saw Kathy and Selina.  We told the boys what we were there for and they did not seem too scared by it.  While we were waiting, Stuart and I decided to let the boys get the shots instead of the FluMist so we did not have to worry if the boys would inhale it properly.  After a relatively quick wait, it was our turn.  Logan just then got nervous and did not want to get the shot.  The nurse suggested giving it to Stuart and I first, then it was Logan’s turn.  I held him on my lap; Logan was quite scared but the shot was given before he complained too much.  Connor was watching all these without looking too worried.  He even had a smile on his face while watching Logan.  Connor sat on me and received his with only a slight twinge.  After we left the flu shot room, we walked back out to the parking lot to check out the festivities.  Since we all just ate, we just looked at different booths and picked up some freebies.  We lined up to take a family photo and Connor got to enjoy a popsicle while we waited.   The boys watched a health promotion with people doing some aerobics briefly, then we took off to go home.

    Stuart had a funeral service to attend this late afternoon, so he got ready when the rest of us napping and taking quiet time.  The boys and I spent the rest of days playing a game of Memoir 44 and Legos together.  Then I made dinner for us and got the evening routine rolling.  We were all so happy to see daddy arrive just right before reading time.

     I got a call twenty minutes after end of school on Wednesday.  It was from the school office reminding me to pick up Logan; I was so surprised by the call and immediately told her that Logan should be going to CDC.  She understood and sent Logan over to CDC.  Shortly after, the teacher sent an email to inform that Logan thought he was supposed to be picked up by daddy that day and so she wanted to confirm the days Logan should go to CDC.   I also had the Art Vista training in the morning so I had dropped Logan off in the morning at line up rather than the normal CDC.  Logan must have been confused by the change of routine. 

    By the end of the day, we asked Logan about the incidence.  He really thought that Stuart was going to pick him up.  He said he waited with the teacher and helped her with some clean up in the classroom until the teacher walked him to the office.  After the office lady called me, then he was told to go to CDC.  Stuart and I are worried about this incidence, so we have to do a better job in reminding him where to go after school.

    It has been five weeks now since school began.  Logan has gotten more adjusted to the new environment, and seems to like the class better.  But we are not too sure about CDC yet.  Logan has mentioned that he prefers staying in class than going to CDC, and he definitely would choose going home instead of CDC.  The reason mainly as Logan enjoys some new game time recently.  After doing homework, Logan has learned how to play the Memoir 44 board game.  This was the game Stuart and I used to play, and it is for ages 8+.  The game takes time to set up and it requires some thinking or strategy to win.  Logan is quite patient helping set up and I was surprised how well he understands the rules.  He just needs some guidance to tell him what the cards say and how many units to order, and he often manages to take the next step.  He had had several good wins so far.  We are happy that Logan enjoys these kind of games.

    A couple of weeks ago, we decided to try something new with Logan.  We noticed that Logan was not listening too well at soccer.  He would follow the instructions to some extent, but preferred to kick around instead.  So Stuart used Logan’s current interest of the “PC tank game” and suggested that Logan can earn tokens for playtime.  It has been working quite well as Logan is now listening to the coach better and trying his best in both practices and games.  He is still a defensive player and loves defending the goal rather than making one.  He knows his teammates better now, and starts to play with them more.  At the last practice, he was goofing around and giggling with another boy a lot, and needed reminders from the coach to focus back on the scrimmage game.  But I think the idea of tokens is still helping the situation.

    At school, Logan has been sharing with us how the students are being color coded depending on their behaviors.  He has been telling us how there have been many students turning yellow, and even some blues and rarely some reds.  He has been staying green except last Friday when he told Stuart that it was a bad day as he turned yellow.  He told us that it was because he forgot to write his name on one of the school works.  We thought the reason seemed strange, but assumed Logan was just confused and misunderstood the reason.  But on the same day, Logan received a pencil as an award for being “Being a Graystone Great!”.  Since I saw the teacher after school today, I asked her briefly.  She said Logan was talking with a classmate and did not stop after some reminders, so he got a yellow.  I guess Logan is getting more comfortable in class now too.

    Doing homework has been a new routine for all of us.  Logan used to do his homework during the after school program at the previous school and we just needed to review them briefly with him.  Now the responsibility is on us and it has not been too easy.  Logan can be sloppy and inpatient at times, so Stuart or I have to be persistent with him to get all the work done.  It totally requires patience on our end.  Today I tried something different, making part of the work be a game, and it was a much better experience for both of us.