Ouch!

Sorry again... More frequent updates are on Facebook these days. I don't have a lot of time at work to compose posts which is where I usually did and at home I just forget.

What's new?

Theo's job continues to go really well. My job continues to go well, and doesn't make me too crazy. But when I think of how things have changed since my first year teaching in 2003--I mean about me and my habits and how I do this job--it's just sort of crazy. In a good way! I mean, I was hot shit then, but now... :)

Gramee came to visit and it was close to 80 degrees on Sunday. Then yesterday it SNOWED!

From Winter 09

Our new superintendent is fron Boston and Minneapolis though, so no time off of school for us. I could HEAR her rolling her eyes as she said, "The road conditions DO NOT WARRANT school closure."

There is a series of photos documenting Kitty's fashion choices there as well. The photos have been scarce because our digital camera died, so we've only got the phones.

The biggest recent news is that K had a pretty big accident recently. She walked too close behind a kid swinging and got kicked in the mouth. After a visit to the ER and pediatric dentist, the final total is that she had a split lip, badly bruised gums, and most signficantly, her front teeth were pushed backwards towards her tongue. Long story short, it would be better for the long term prognosis to leave them alone than to try and mess with them. She also had some stomach upset the next day, and that left her a little phobic about eating. Everything either hurt her teeth/gums or made her puke! (or so she thought.) Poor thing.

But, in good news, her diet has been reexpanding. She was SO happy to show me this morning that she could chew vigorously with her molars again. I'm not sure if her front teeth have moved forward a bit or if she has adapted how she holds her jaw, but either way it's good news. She knows she's not supposed to bite down on anything with her front teeth, but now she can handle bits of soft bread/muffin if she tears off a bite and puts it in her mouth, and she can have cheese cubed into one bite bits, and cooked beans, and other stuff.

But she's so slim and her metbolism is so fast that she's lost a signficant-for-her amount of weight since the injury last Thursday. I can see her vertebrae and her sternum is all skin and bones. Her arms and legs are all wiry. We'll be keeping up the pediasure snacks and extra butter with dinner for a while. She hasn't had meat since the accident (except in pureed vege-beef soup) because it's hard to chew, so she's been getting extra dairy.

This was taken Monday. She LOOKS ok, until you look in her mouth.

From Winter 09

I went to a conference at K's school Monday. Apparently, she is a totally different child there, which I take it isn't that unusual. She's been there since December 1, and is still in the opening up process. She has been reluctant to talk much until the last few weeks. She is quiet for group time, but not exactly participatory or paying attention. And her teacher said her colors were coming along nicely when I know she's known her colors for like a year. They described her as totally gung ho to learn new centers and quite sensitive.

Her favorite center is the practical life stuff, and I got to see her using a turkey baster to move water from bowl to bowl and cut with scissors, and sort blocks. It was so so sweet to see the whole montessori routine in action--choosing an activity, setting herself up, working as long as she wanted, and then cleaning up neatly.

Anyway, that's where we are!