Jungle Jims

After having Tuesdays off for almost a year, I unfortunately have to go back to working five days a week, starting next week.  Since yesterday was my last Tuesday off, the kids and I decided to make it special and went to Jungle Jims.  Oh My Goodness we had a blast.  I took the kids about a year ago and they liked it then, they freaking LOVED it this time.

Logan was finally big enough for the bumper cars! Kid could not figure out to push the pedal down until it was almost over but he sat in the corner, turning the steering wheel and grinning from ear to ear.  He kept saying so proudly, "I drove it Mommy, I drove it!"

The airplane thingamajigs are always a crowd pleaser.

Logan liked the swings more than Nathan, I think Nathan was a touch bored.

K, so somehow Logan pushed the buttons just so and turned this video game on without paying!  It was a Batman car racer type game and I even checked, it was not a demo, kiddo was really playing!

Nathan asked Logan for a turn and Logan so nicely said sure! and let Nathan have a go at it.  I think next time I will just pay the money and let them play since they both enjoyed it so much.

Oh the bounce houses!  There were three and I could not get the kids out of the bounce house play land for anything!  Except when they were starving and I bribed them with lunch.

Okay, there is this "rollercoaster" that actually goes around in a circle pretty stinking fast and then it goes backward.  Nathan actually asked to ride it and look at those smiles!  They both loved it and nobody cried.  They are getting so big and brave!

It was such a great day to just play and spend time with the kids.  They are getting big so fast I'm so glad we could go and make some awesome memories.  Nathan is already planning that his birthday party is going to be at Jungle Jims so it looks like we will be back soon!

I Love Having a Five Year Old

I love having a five year old...well an almost five year old.  Nathan has grown up so much this summer I can't even believe it.  Don't get me wrong, he was an awesome four year old.  But the past month or so he just seems so much older I guess.  It's like I have a little buddy who talks my ear off and tells me the greatest things ever!  Like for example, he learned about space and the planets at school a few weeks ago.  He has told me the name of every planet, what stars are made of, all about how you need a rocket ship to go to the planets, and did you know that there is "dry lava" on Mars?  Not hot lava but dry lava and that is why it's red.  I have no idea what dry lava is but I love hearing him talk about it so much!

And then there was this morning.  I was running late and hurrying to pack my lunch.  Nathan looked up and me and said "Mom, why are you so stressed?"  I told him that I had a lot of meetings today and it was going to be a rough day.  So then he asks me, "What is your first meeting?" I tell him its a project coordination meeting.  He asks me, "What's your second meeting?" So i tell him a parking construction meeting.  Then he asks, "What's your third meeting?"  I tell him I have to spend the afternoon at the city getting building permits.  He thought about it for a few minutes and tells me, ya mom you have a busy day,  I hope your day gets better soon.

I just love so much that he cared what I was doing, even though he has no idea what any of it means.  It just means the world that he takes the time to listen to people and cares about what is bothering them.  Nathan does this sort of thing all the time now.  He is just so thoughtful and kind and caring I can't even believe it.

When I dropped him off at school I gave him a kiss and hug and told him to have a great day.  He says to me, "Well Mom, I will have a good day, and then a great night when we are together again."  Talk about getting me to cry first thing in the morning.  I sure love my kids more than words can say.

"Your Kid Needs Behavioral Therapy"

There are no words for when your two and a half year old's daycare teacher tells you that your kid needs behavioral therapy.  I couldn't speak, I couldn't rebuttal, and the silence on my end of the phone call was apparently the opening for his teacher to give me the laundry list of all the times Logan has misbehaved.

My heart is breaking and I'm choking back the tears as I mutter something stupid about getting an appointment arranged.  It's not like Matt and I don't know that Logan struggles.  We do know.  We deal with it day and and day out.  We have been working with Logan and therapists for over a year now, first with social skills, then sign language, then speech.  We knew he was having some behavioral issues but honestly we were chalking it up to 2 year old behavior as well as him having been so far behind.

His speech therapist talked to us at the beginning of the summer about some of his issues and set up a meeting with us and the director of a special needs preschool.  When the director met Logan she was surprised he was even being evaluated but told us to have his daycare teacher fill out an evaluation and bring it back at the beginning of October.  I haven't given his teacher the paperwork yet, I was still hoping he would improve enough that the teacher would give him a good evaluation.  Guess that's not an option anymore....

I know its stupid to avoid reality.  If he needs help then he needs help.  If he has anger and behavior issues then they aren't going to go away by ignoring them.  And I know it is better to deal with these kind of problems now, before he gets into elementary school.  But his speech has gotten so good that I just really hoped everything else would fall into line as well.

I feel like Logan just gets labeled as a bad kid or aggressive or difficult without getting to know who Logan really is.  Yes, he gets aggressive, yes he can be very difficult and stubborn but he can also be the sweetest most loving kid I know.