John's Days, Wrap-Up

I usually pick John up around 3:30-4pm. We go home, play trains, play in the rocks in the back yard, play dump trucks in the driveway, stop at the grocery store, go to the park, etc., until about 5:15-5:30, which is when Tony usually gets home. We usually start dinner between 5:30-6. It's amazing how long John can make dinner last while consuming so little! Then, if it's early enough, we all (or just John and Tony) take Keats for a walk. Lately, John has been riding in the wagon, like this:


Then we come home, clean up toys downstairs then upstairs, take a bath or shower, get into PJs, read two books and eat a bagel and have some water.
Then lights out, sometimes we recite a book in the dark, Tony's favorite is "The Gruffalo," mine are "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" and "Thunderhoof." Or we rehash the day's events starting in the morning.
Then we "find his crib" and cover him with his Bee. He sleeps with his Bee, his "soft Bee" (a small green blanket), his bear, his giraffe, and his pillow.
Sometimes there is one more drink of water. Lots of "I love you's." On good nights he dismisses us. On rougher nights, we leave before he's ready, and there's a couple minutes of "Come back." He's usually asleep in five to ten minutes, or he talks to himself for up to 20 minutes, we hear him rehashing the day to himself or saying things that we've said to him during the day.
We have been very fortunate to have no nighttime waking lately. I'm thankful for that each morning!

Wednesday afternoons are our playdates with our friend/neighbor James. We like going to the area parks, sometimes to local McDonald's play-places, sometimes to the botanical garden. We sometimes have a bonus James-playdate on Friday or other weekdays if schedules allow.

Saturdays and Sundays follow the basic pattern of the weekday, with the exception of watching "Thomas the Tank Engine" after the first diaper change. He sits in the big recliner downstairs with his Bee, his soft Bee, his giraffe, his pillow, his bear, a bagel, water, and milk. He sits through a 45-minute video or DVD, and sometimes he likes to watch it again halfway through. He's very good at turning off the TV himself when it's over.
When Daddy comes downstairs we eat breakfast, then take Keats for a walk, come back and play or run errands till lunch. Then nap. Then some activity in the afternoon, such as shopping, errands, parks, etc.
Our Sunday morning tradition is to go to the grocery store for the week after the Keats walk.
I am very, very, VERY thankful we have a routine that works for us!

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days

This is my best guess at John's school schedule.

When he gets in around 9am, it's usually "choice time," which means they get to play with toys. They are supposed to pick from a preselected array, and put away the toys when they are done.
Followed by snack.
Followed by diaper changing and pottying (John can name the kids in his class who can "pee on the potty." I'm dying to tell you who, but privacy policy forbids!)
Followed by outside time: John's current favorites are driving the shopping cart and digging, throwing, and rolling in the playground mulch.
Followed by activity/learning unit: crafts, coloring, learning Bible stories, playing with musical instruments, parachutes, etc.
Followed by lunch and more diaper changing and potty time
Followed by nap: John has been told (many times) that he doesn't have to sleep, but he needs to rest quietly on his mat so that his friends can sleep. He is back to napping the majority of the time, but he drops it occasionally (once a week or so)
Post-nap is the period I am less sure about...
I think they have another activity, choice time, and possibly another snack, as well as diapers and potty. Then about 3:15 they head out to the playground again.
I usually pick him up between 3:30 and 4pm, and they are usually out on the playground.
If John gets a sticker in the morning and one in the afternoon, he gets a "treat" from the treat jar, which is stuff like smarties candy, 100-calorie cookie packs, stickers, little cars, etc. He goes STRAIGHT for the candy if there is any, and I trickle it out to him as slowly as I can on the car ride home.

John has about 8 kids in his two's class and they combine a lot with the one's class, particularly because they are down one teacher in the two's. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the fullest days, I think there are at 4-5 kids who only come on T's and Th's.

Everyone loves him at the school, but he has been having issues with (1) crashing the shopping cart or monster truck into other kids or the fence outside or the walls; (2) being disruptive during naptime; (3) throwing mulch; and (4) occasionally being defiant, that is, choosing to not follow directions, or continuing to do something he has been asked to stop even after he acknowledges that he's not supposed to do it.

Here is a sample of his daily report:

(Sorry about the shadows on the picture. This was the best of the EIGHT I took at 10pm!)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

No, just kidding. Here is part one of John's typical daily schedule:
7am: I wake him by up going into his room, turning off the vaporizer, and opening up the shade.
7:10 or so: He is ready for his first diaper change of the day.
Then: We go in and wake up Daddy or rout him out of bed if he's already awake.
Then: We go downstairs to eat breakfast. John usually checks on his toys while I make breakfast.
Then: John eats breakfast while Tony and I eat breakfast, make Tony's lunch, make John's lunch, unload the dishwasher, and reload the dishwasher.
Somewhere between 8 and 8:45: Daddy leaves and John and I go up to get dressed.
8:45-9am: We leave for school, taking Keats, giraffe, pillow, Bee, and lunch, and as many construction vehicles as I feel like allowing in the car, usually 1 to 3.
9-9:15am: John and I walk into school, sign him in, put his lunch in his lunch cubby, put his Bee, his giraffe, and his pillow in his naptime cubby, and start the delicate "Mommy departure dance." I stay anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes, depending on the day of the week, how many kids are there, which teacher is there, what the kids are doing, etc. (I harden my heart and leave him there everyday, but it sure does break a little every time he stands there crying with his Bee.)

Part 2 will continue with his school schedule!

The ongoing debate

Just to prove that John, indeed, has ice cream sometimes.

Backpack video

This is John, leaving to go on a walk with Keats, Daddy, and Mommy, in which he sports his cool tiger backpack from Grandma Indiana and Grandpa Don. John likes to carry all of his little IKEA trains with him when we go for walks.
(Also, listen to those crazy cicadas! I must have taken this video in July.)

John video

Another video from the Clemson Family Fest.
John on a big slide!

Brief Penna Update

All the Pennas are back in South Carolina, now that Tony made it back from Dracula-Land (Actors Theatre in Louisville, KY). Ike canceled his Sunday evening flight, but he made it back in on Monday morning without too much trouble.
John woke up from his nap at school with a fever, which subsequently went up once he got home, so we all made an unscheduled trip to see Dawn at Feiste's office. I thought strep, [BUZZ]. It was an ear infection. We got an antibiotic and a free sample of the precious Ciprodex ear drops ($40-per-1.5 milliliter bottle). I think I have FINALLY learned the lesson to start the ear drops right when he starts getting a runny nose and cough. Maybe. I'm slow like that.


John and Mommy had big fun while Daddy was out of town. Trips to the park, zoo, bagel store, and to watch the tailgating traffic. And of course, watching Thomas on Saturday and Sunday. Oh, and we had ICE CREAM on Friday afternoon with our friends Kerri, James, and Andy. I know, you're thinking I spoil John too much!

Anyway, we're all home, and starting to get back on track with "normal" lives...

New Gadget

If you scroll down and look on the left side, you'll notice I added our Start! Low Country Heart Walk "thermometer."
Thanks to everyone who has already donated. We really appreciate it, especially since we don't actually make it to the walk each year!

But for those of you who don't know, this is our "pet" charity, the one we actually ask for help with from our family and friends each year. The Children's Hospital of MUSC (Medical University South Carolina in Charleston) is where John was diagnosed with Scimitar Syndrome, where he had his catheterization procedure and where he will have his open heart surgery. We were treated so well there by everyone through a difficult ordeal. We have so much confidence in the doctors and nurses there.

Each year, the Children's Hospital sponsors the "Little Hearts" walk as part of the larger American Heart Association walk in Charleston. I hope that some day we can attend, but for now, we really like to participate by raising some small funds for them.

Anyway, that's the new feature on the blog for today. Thanks for listening to my spiel! I know it's a repetition for a lot of my "audience!"

If you haven't donated and you would like to, click on the thermometer link to the left or this one.

"Ice cream and pizza"

This is what John greeted me with when I first went into his room this morning. Hugging his Bee, he said very sweetly, "I want ice cream and pizza."
I talked him down to a bagel, milk, and Thomas the Tank Engine on TV...
These days he's learning lots of hard lessons about not getting what you want!

John and the Robot at Clemson Family Fest

This was the second year for Clemson Family Festival at the school. It's for faculty and staff and families. They have local businesses, libraries, day cares, magicians, singers, fire trucks, etc. The stand with the longest line was the balloon animal man!

John's favorite thing was the robot that could throw and catch a big blue ball. He must have watched it for a total of 20 minutes. The video is the last bit, when he was finally brave enough to want to interact with it. It was controlled by two "robot geeks" (seen sitting at the white table in the back of one shot). The kids really wanted to play with the robots, but the two controllers - one teenager, one 20-something - didn't quite have the right timing and sense of interacting.

But it was fun to watch John so enthralled. Near the very end of the video, when Tony picks him up, watch how his head whips around so that he can keep an eye on the robot!

To everyone who is not a rabid John fan, this video may be a little long for you...