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Little Goblins Halloween Card

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Reading

If you've followed James' caringbridge site you'll know that he loves to read books. When we read to James we can't just read one book, we usually have to read about 10 books-no exaggeration! We were recently told about a program that is supported by Cass and Clay Counties United Way called Imagination Library. It was started by Dolly Parton and what they do is send your child an age appropriate book to your child for free every month until they turn 5! How amazing is that! All you have to do is google Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and sign up! If you're not sure your county supports this program-no problem. Simply go to the website and and choose your zip code and they'll tell you if your county participates!

Another recent development that is great for James and his reading is that he now has library class every week at school! He will bring home one book each week! They help him to pick an appropriate book that he can learn from and enjoy!

Reading is one the best things we can do for our children. We've never had a problem with reading to James but we've found with Elliot (our almost 2 year old) is that he just doesn't sit still long enough to read him a book! However as he's gotten older we've noticed that he'll just take some time himself to sit down and at least look at books. Some days it's for 5 seconds and some days he'll sit and look at every book we own! One thing I've tried to do for our boys is to set aside a specific time (right before naptime for us) and we read for 20 minutes. I sit with James in the rocking chair and read to him (about 4-5 books) and turn off the tv and any other distractions. Usually Elliot will follow suit and pull out several books and look at them and every once in a while venture over to James and I to check out the book we're reading. If you have any other ideas for getting more reading time in with your kids, please share!

Happy Reading!

It's that time of year

The cold season is going full force at our house. James got his first cold this week and it started off pretty bad. After school on Friday he was breathing pretty hard and was much worse after his nap. Luckily we've been able to get it under control with frequent nebulizers and nose-sucking and snuggling. I'm nervous for this winter for James. He's been quite well since last January when he had his fundoplication surgery to help with his reflux. However, at the same time we switched the boys to a small in home daycare and since we moved to Fargo we've had a nanny coming into our home. Now with James being in school I'm sure he'll be exposed to more illnesses and such. Hopefully we'll be able to avoid any major instances of respiratory distress. We'll definately be be staying on top of things with hime by giving him frequent nebulizer treatments, along with 2 other asthma medications but in addition we'll be sure to be washing our hands often, avoiding people who are smoking, and possibly trying to keep the kids out of stores with lots of people.

First Day of School!

James went off to his first day of pre-school with no tears! He was soo excited! I worried because when he went to summer school he cried almost every day. I think that it helped that the week before school started we were able to go to Back to School night. It was great to meet his teachers and therapists and share with them what we do at home and at outpatient therapy as well as our goals and things that comfort him. James rides the bus to and from school 4 days a week. And on his day off from school he goes to outpatient therapy. Makes for one busy little boy. As I explained to James that morning that he was going to school and would see his friends and teacher and get to play, he had a big bright smile on his face. He got excited every time he saw a bus drive by our street. About 2 or 3 went past before his came. I must say I was very proud of my little boy. From what I hear, James does well at school and loves to be there. He's good on the bus too and never makes a peep. Just likes to go for his ride and look outside at everything. We've been seeing some progressing in James in the past few weeks. He's holding his head much better when on his tummy and tries to roll over more. He's in love with little things he can get his hands on right now, including matchbox cars, stickers, and little action figures. He gets quite upset when he loses them. I'm super excited because I came across a company recently that makes adaptive toys and such for kids like James. I ordered a catalog and can't wait to get him some of the stuff! I say some, because a lot of it is very expensive and large. While we'd love to get James an adaptive swing, it's not very practical while we live in an apartment. James of course got Labor Day off from school, but will be right back at it Tuesday morning!