I follow PTEN World on Facebook. It is a place where the person who runs it posts updates on anything that could be associated with PTEN mutation (updates on cancer organizations, autism, National Organization of Rare Diseases. If you follow me on this blog, and you would like to stay up to date on issues that we might face throughout our journey with this PTEN mutation, like them on facebook. It opens my eyes to other issues, not just PTEN related issues. But yesterday they posted a question that hit home. "What is one thing you wish your loved ones knew about life with a PTEN condition?"
This got me thinking. I have probably said this over and over in my blog, so if you are tired of hearing my ramblings - don't read. But if you want to understand a little of what goes on in my braind - continue to read. What do I wish others knew? That when it comes to your kid, the unknown is scary. If it was me who had this mutation, I could deal with it. I would fear that cancer would take me away before my kids were grown, but this is a fear I have any way. I could deal with any pain, or problems socially I would face. But it's my kid. I fear that she will get a growth that will affect her - either her ability to be physically active, affect her ability to socialize with others, or makes her feel like others are negatively looking at her. I am afraid that some days her challenges might be hard for her to face.
I am fearful that as more research is being done, they will find this mutation is linked to more things. Right now, it is shown to be with developmental delays (she has a few of these), large head (we all know she has this), speech delays (she struggles with this but continues to make improvements). They are finding its' link with AV malformations (problems in the arteries and veins) and these can pop up at any time. She will probably need her tonsils removed. And we have all read about the tumor growths (benign and cancerous that she is at risk for). She is at risk for intestinal polyps, and so with every diaper change, I have to make sure I find no blood. This is our life from here on out. I have to be a step ahead of everything and catch stuff at the first sign of problems.
But they are doing more research. And they continue to find other things this might be linked to.
But than there is hope. With continued research, they will continue to find ways to treat the symptoms. They are doing research on a drug that some people are taking when they find out about cancer, and it slows the growth of cancer. So potentially, could there be a drug that wipes out her chance she will get a cancer? Potentially can this be obsolete, so when she is older, she doesn't have to worry about her decision to have a child herself? That she, herself, could be a mom and not have to worry what this means?
I am fearful for the day she starts asking me questions, and I won't have the right answers for her. I worry that her life will be filled with doctors' appointments, tests, etc and she won't know what it's like to be a "normal" kid. I am afraid of her having struggles in school, and if budgets are cut, will they cut special education and her ability to get services that she needs? The unknown freaks me out.
And I do struggle with this knowledge every day. I really do want my family and friends to know I am working on this. I really want to get to a point that I don't let it overwhelm me. But I feel like I have to stay up on the research. I have to read the journal articles. Because nobody truly knows a lot about this. So I HAVE to be the expert. So if I look like I am engrossing myself in it too much, I probably am. I don't want to miss any reports of it being linked to anything I don't know about and I miss the symptoms.
And it makes my eyes so much wider at work. The terms we use, the phrases we say. When parents are waiting for a test result that takes 6 weeks, we tell them not to worry. "Don't worry, we are testing for a genetic mutation that may affect your life forever - but I wouldn't worry until we have the results". Or when we use the phrasing "We don't know what it means, it could mean nothing, or it could mean she has x, y, or z" - we are setting these parents off into a world of unknowns, and it makes me fearful for them. It makes me want to hug them and say I am where you are. It makes me want to give them all the tools they would need on the outside so if this nothing does become something, they would know where to look. If it wasn't for where I work, I would not have found many of the resources we have found for Brooklynn. And I would feel helpless. And than I struggle because I keep my private life private (besides the blog) - I want to shout from the rooftops and open people's eyes to things that seem not so big (and honestly maybe it isn't so big and I just stress about it for no reason). I dont' know how to get our story out there. I don't want to blast it out, but I want to help another mom who might be struggling like me. Not saying I am where I could help. But eventually, I want to help others. I feel powerless right now, and probably because I feel so powerless over my own life.
So to my family and friends - I am adjusting. I would like to talk about it if you want to know about it. I am trying to adjust to this. I am trying to not let it engulf me. And if I ever dwell on it too much - you can knock some sense into me and say shape up! That's the long of it. My response to the question.
What is interesting is later on PTEN world, they posted as a family member or friend what do you want to know about PTEN? This made me think as well - what do others want to know? Are there any questions people would like to ask? If so, please ask. I probably won't have the answers, but maybe it would get a perspective or a question to bring me back to space. I feel like sometimes others don't want to ask, don't care to ask, I dont' know. But it is OKAY to ask. Just saying.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Brooklynn's Developmental Evaluation Results
2 weeks ago Brooklynn met with the Autism Spectrum Disorder Team (which included a psychologist, a speech pathologist, and an occupational therapist - the developmental psychologist was not available at our appointment). Yesterday, I went in to meet with the team to see our results for the developmental and their evaluation on whether Brooklynn fit into the Autism Spectrum. It was a good meeting, lasted about 1 hour. We have been through a lot of this before (between the school district and other evaluations) so I was pretty confident that I knew what to expect.
First things first - I was very excited to see that they did not feel like she fit into the autism spectrum disorder category. They felt like on paper, she could have behaviors that look like she might fit, but when you meet her and she warms up to you, she does not display the characteristics of autism. She does too much eye contact, responds to your voice, attempts to get your attention, etc. They did state, however, that they feel like a big problem of hers is anxiety. She does not feel comfortable in new situations or with new people (as most kids don't), but hers is to the a higher extent since it is affecting her ability to interact with kids her age, and makes her shut down. On the Autism Coding system they use, which she showed no evidence of autism spectrum.
A big barrier to her is her speech. They evaluated multiple levels of speech, including her receptive (what she understands) and her expressive (what she says) language. Standard scores between 85-115 are normal. Brooklynn's score was 69 (ranking in 2%). Subset scores (they are combined to equal the standard score) range between 7-13 for normal. Her sentence structure was 8 (25%), word structure 2 (0.4%), and expressive vocabulary was 4 (2%) She had trouble answer questions and responding to things, which is below her age level. Her articulation score was also low at 68, ranking in 8%, making her raw score 54%. So all these numbers mean that she has a moderate to severe articulation disorder as well as a moderate receptive and expressive disorder. This is much different than when we tested her at Children's the first time, where it was only a mild. They felt it was due to the fact that at this age kids are learning at such a fast pace for language, and she was already slightly behind, so she is still working on her other skills, and therefore has just fallen behind her peers due to her inability to catch up at this time. Again, with speech therapy, hopefully she will get up to her peers.
Her "IQ" score was on the lower side of normal. She had things that she was variant on, ranging from impaired/intellectual disability to average. Her adaptive behavior scale was used to assess her functional skills. Her scores were on the borderline range. She was found to generally be functioning on a young 2 year old level. They told me that sometimes, they see these types of test results on children can potentially have more learning disabilities.
Occupational Therapy looked at her, and felt that she definitely shows some impairments in her skills. Her gross motor skills are at 87 score (30 month developmental age); fine motor is 57 score (24 month developmental age), and her self-help skills are 22 (18 months of age. She felt like she demonstrated deficits mostly in skills that required accuracy (she would start to tremble when she needed to use her fine motor skills), as well as visual motor skills, and they would recommend possibly getting occupational therapy involved at some point in her school, or even at Children's Mercy during the summer.
So overall, we have some new diagnosis-
1. Adjustment Disorder with Anxious mood - this could be the start of her symptoms for an underlying anxiety disorder, which will have to monitor her for, or she might outgrow as her language skills improve.
2. Receptive and Expressive Language disorder
3. Articulation Disorder
4. Functioning in the Delayed Range
So overall, it definitely makes me feel better that she is not autistic. I do struggle with the fact, though, that now we have this new diagnosis that there is not this huge support system for. I don't hear about anxiety disorders in young children very often. I hear about parents who have autistic kids, and there is a huge network of parents and resources out there for them. I feel some days that I am swimming alone in this large see of a child with special needs. I don't feel like we fit into any one category. I know that most kids don't, and I don't want to group her in, but it would be nice if I could find a network of parents who had similar situations. And I feel like I am alone in this adventure. I know there are lots of people out there who are dealing with different struggles with their children. Right now, Brooklynn is getting all the help she needs for her struggles that she is facing. But I feel like sometimes I am not getting help to get over my own personal hurdle of fear of the unknown. I will clear it one day, I just am not sure when.
First things first - I was very excited to see that they did not feel like she fit into the autism spectrum disorder category. They felt like on paper, she could have behaviors that look like she might fit, but when you meet her and she warms up to you, she does not display the characteristics of autism. She does too much eye contact, responds to your voice, attempts to get your attention, etc. They did state, however, that they feel like a big problem of hers is anxiety. She does not feel comfortable in new situations or with new people (as most kids don't), but hers is to the a higher extent since it is affecting her ability to interact with kids her age, and makes her shut down. On the Autism Coding system they use, which she showed no evidence of autism spectrum.
A big barrier to her is her speech. They evaluated multiple levels of speech, including her receptive (what she understands) and her expressive (what she says) language. Standard scores between 85-115 are normal. Brooklynn's score was 69 (ranking in 2%). Subset scores (they are combined to equal the standard score) range between 7-13 for normal. Her sentence structure was 8 (25%), word structure 2 (0.4%), and expressive vocabulary was 4 (2%) She had trouble answer questions and responding to things, which is below her age level. Her articulation score was also low at 68, ranking in 8%, making her raw score 54%. So all these numbers mean that she has a moderate to severe articulation disorder as well as a moderate receptive and expressive disorder. This is much different than when we tested her at Children's the first time, where it was only a mild. They felt it was due to the fact that at this age kids are learning at such a fast pace for language, and she was already slightly behind, so she is still working on her other skills, and therefore has just fallen behind her peers due to her inability to catch up at this time. Again, with speech therapy, hopefully she will get up to her peers.
Her "IQ" score was on the lower side of normal. She had things that she was variant on, ranging from impaired/intellectual disability to average. Her adaptive behavior scale was used to assess her functional skills. Her scores were on the borderline range. She was found to generally be functioning on a young 2 year old level. They told me that sometimes, they see these types of test results on children can potentially have more learning disabilities.
Occupational Therapy looked at her, and felt that she definitely shows some impairments in her skills. Her gross motor skills are at 87 score (30 month developmental age); fine motor is 57 score (24 month developmental age), and her self-help skills are 22 (18 months of age. She felt like she demonstrated deficits mostly in skills that required accuracy (she would start to tremble when she needed to use her fine motor skills), as well as visual motor skills, and they would recommend possibly getting occupational therapy involved at some point in her school, or even at Children's Mercy during the summer.
So overall, we have some new diagnosis-
1. Adjustment Disorder with Anxious mood - this could be the start of her symptoms for an underlying anxiety disorder, which will have to monitor her for, or she might outgrow as her language skills improve.
2. Receptive and Expressive Language disorder
3. Articulation Disorder
4. Functioning in the Delayed Range
So overall, it definitely makes me feel better that she is not autistic. I do struggle with the fact, though, that now we have this new diagnosis that there is not this huge support system for. I don't hear about anxiety disorders in young children very often. I hear about parents who have autistic kids, and there is a huge network of parents and resources out there for them. I feel some days that I am swimming alone in this large see of a child with special needs. I don't feel like we fit into any one category. I know that most kids don't, and I don't want to group her in, but it would be nice if I could find a network of parents who had similar situations. And I feel like I am alone in this adventure. I know there are lots of people out there who are dealing with different struggles with their children. Right now, Brooklynn is getting all the help she needs for her struggles that she is facing. But I feel like sometimes I am not getting help to get over my own personal hurdle of fear of the unknown. I will clear it one day, I just am not sure when.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Developmental Appointment
Yesterday, we had Brooklynn's developmental appointment. It was at CMH South, and was a 2 1/2 hour appointment. We met with Dr. Little, who is a psychologist (mostly specialized in behavior disorders such as autism), speech specialist, and occupational therapist. We were supposed to meet with a developmental psychologist but she was out with a sick child, but I was told they got an appropriate evaluation they felt at this time, and that she has already been through "a gambut of testing". So she did a bunch of testing, and at first was very nervous, and she finally started to open up. I heard the words "anxiety" and that she "seems to be on the developmental play skills of a 2 year old". But I won't know any interpretation for 2 weeks. We got back 3/27 to get the evaluations. I am so nervous. I didn't hear the words autism, so I don't know if that is out of the picture, or if they felt her anxiety is due to autism. I have no clue. I will try to forget about everything until 2 weeks from now.
And not only do I have to wait for that, but I have another 6 week time frame to wait for.
Tuesday, I started the process of having my labs drawn again. This time, it is to find out if I am a carrier of the alpha-5 reductase deficiency, which was incidentally found with Brooklynn's microarray. This process starts with me, and can take up to 4 tests, and each test takes 6 weeks each to get results. So we will start with me, and then depending on my test we will see what the next step will be. This is pretty much to decide if we will be having more kids or not. If both of us are carriers, than we will not, if neither of us are carriers than we will. If one of us is carriers, that's up for discussion.
And not only do I have to wait for that, but I have another 6 week time frame to wait for.
Tuesday, I started the process of having my labs drawn again. This time, it is to find out if I am a carrier of the alpha-5 reductase deficiency, which was incidentally found with Brooklynn's microarray. This process starts with me, and can take up to 4 tests, and each test takes 6 weeks each to get results. So we will start with me, and then depending on my test we will see what the next step will be. This is pretty much to decide if we will be having more kids or not. If both of us are carriers, than we will not, if neither of us are carriers than we will. If one of us is carriers, that's up for discussion.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Brooklynn is 3!!
Dear Brooklynn,
So you turned 3 this last week. And boy it seem slike it has gone quickly. You have taught me more in 3 years than anybody ever has. You are so strong, fun loving, and excited about everything. You have achieved so much this last year. When you turned 2, you had a rough time with your communication, and now you are saying 3-4 word sentences. You are enjoying playing with your sister and cousins. You love to get dressed up in beautiful outfits, you love to twirl in dresses, you enjoy getting make up from your sister an dlooking "petty". You are such a strong little girl.
Your laugh is infectious. Your smile is amazing. When you see me or your daddy, you always come running to us and are so excited. You love to wrap your arms around our necks and squeeze tight. Sometimes, you just want us to hold you for a couple of minutes like that. You are strong willed - you don't do anything you don't want to.
You are learning how to do puzzles, we are working on your colors (but your favorite color is "yeyow" - anything is yellow to you :). You enjoy playing with Barbies, princesses, legos, and dress up. You look up to your sister, and try to follow everything she does. Your older sister adores you, and tries to take care of you. She is your second mother. You enjoy going to both sets of grandparents house. Your best friends are your sister and cousins. You love looking at books (but you hate for me to read to you). You enjoy pointing to the pictures and saying the words out loud.
I love everything about you. Even your tantrums where you throw yourself on the ground, and don't move, are adorable to me. You love to grab our faces and whisper in our ears.
Thank you for all you have taught me in your short 3 years. You have through so many doctors appointments, tests, and labs, and yet you still are the happiest child I know. You take everything in stride, and are always a laid back child.
I love you forever, mostest 'ostest, and from here to the moon,
your mom.
So you turned 3 this last week. And boy it seem slike it has gone quickly. You have taught me more in 3 years than anybody ever has. You are so strong, fun loving, and excited about everything. You have achieved so much this last year. When you turned 2, you had a rough time with your communication, and now you are saying 3-4 word sentences. You are enjoying playing with your sister and cousins. You love to get dressed up in beautiful outfits, you love to twirl in dresses, you enjoy getting make up from your sister an dlooking "petty". You are such a strong little girl.
Your laugh is infectious. Your smile is amazing. When you see me or your daddy, you always come running to us and are so excited. You love to wrap your arms around our necks and squeeze tight. Sometimes, you just want us to hold you for a couple of minutes like that. You are strong willed - you don't do anything you don't want to.
You are learning how to do puzzles, we are working on your colors (but your favorite color is "yeyow" - anything is yellow to you :). You enjoy playing with Barbies, princesses, legos, and dress up. You look up to your sister, and try to follow everything she does. Your older sister adores you, and tries to take care of you. She is your second mother. You enjoy going to both sets of grandparents house. Your best friends are your sister and cousins. You love looking at books (but you hate for me to read to you). You enjoy pointing to the pictures and saying the words out loud.
I love everything about you. Even your tantrums where you throw yourself on the ground, and don't move, are adorable to me. You love to grab our faces and whisper in our ears.
Thank you for all you have taught me in your short 3 years. You have through so many doctors appointments, tests, and labs, and yet you still are the happiest child I know. You take everything in stride, and are always a laid back child.
I love you forever, mostest 'ostest, and from here to the moon,
your mom.
Neurosurgery Appointment
Brooklynn had her neurosurgery follow up on March 6th. We had a rapid MRI done, and this time we didn't even have to meet up with Dr. H, but instead saw his Nurse Practitioner. She told me that the MRI looked good and that Brooklynn's ventricles have looked the same, and are not enlarged. I asked about symptoms for AVMs and Tumors (which she has a small risk for due to her Gene mutation), and she told me if she starts having seizures, becomes clumsy, complains of headaches, or other enurological symptoms I need to probably bring it up to her pediatrician and we might need to evaluate her for these in her brain. Other than that, we have been officially RELEASED from neurosurgery!! WOOHOOO!!!!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Girls' Yearly Check Up with Pediatrician
Today we had the girls' pediatrician appointment with Dr. B. I have to say, every time I go, I thoroughly enjoy this doctor. She answers my questions before I can even ask them. She is thorough, and she talks to Izzy and teaches her things that I struggle with. The check up ended up going pretty good. It's always nice to see how much the girls have grown and that everything is okay. We finally got to go to a doctor with any new referrals. :) That is always a plus.
So we will start with Izzy:
Height 45.25 inches 93%ile
Weight 41.0 pounds 60.04%ile
BMI 14.08 Index 16.06%
BP 111/63 (YIKES! they rechecked it though and it was 96/62 - so much better) I guess she takes after daddy and has anxiety at the doctors.
Temperature 98.6
Heart Rate 100/minute
Respiratory Rate 20/minute
Hemoglobin 12.2 (so normal)
She taught her stranger danger, answered some questions I had about her stomach pains (she feels like it might be behavior, but need to make sure she is regular in her bowel movements) - decrease dairy, carbs, etc (so pretty much everything Izzy enjoys eating) to try to supplement more Fiber into her diet. She had to get her kindergarten shots (DTAP and IPV in one shot, MMRV in another). Izzy cried and was upset, but at least this time she did't scream at the top of her lungs "I DON'T WANT A SHOT!!" so we made improvements. We walked out and she kept crying "my arm hurts, my arm hurts - but I didn't scream this time". I was proud that she is learning how to handle her emotions.
Brooklynn:
Height 39.5 inches 96.09%ile (she grew about 4 inches in 1 year!)
Weight 37.2 pounds 94.38%ile
BMI 16.76 Index 76.63%ile
BP 74/55
Temperature 97.9 F
Heart Rate 120/minute
Respiratory Rate 24/min
Dr. B said that it is a good thing she is so tall because that helps decrease her body mass index percentile (anything over 85% is concern for obesity). She said that Brooklynn is the average size of a 4 year old. We talked about her asthma control, and that we have been off Flovent for <1 week but so far we are doing okay. She said that it's okay to wean her off, and just start back up if we need to. Also, we need to start allergy medicine. I updated her on her developmental evaluations from the school district and that we have an appointment tomorrow with neurosurgery and developmental at CMH next week. She said to just ask them to fax a letter to her so she can stay up to date on what they determine. She did say it might not be a bad idea to contact the Cleveland Clinic (which has a PTEN Clinic) just because they might be able to provide us with an idea of what is commonly seen, even though she is not developing too many concerns. She said right now we are having to go between different specialists, but not all of them are tied together, and if we can get a clinic that can tie everything together and give us a clear action plan on what to watch for and what our concerns are at this point. She said that it might be able to just be a contact, or they might even ask for us to come up there.
Overall it was a nice appointment. Validation for some of my questions, and also it was nice to hear "everything looks good". Those are always a nice dah.
Unfortunately, though, with this appointment, Brooklynn was late on her last day at school - and we totally missed bringing snacks, and they were going to celebrate her birthday today. Hopefully she was able to enjoy the rest of her last day at Hilltop. Today is a little bit of a sad day because we will be moving on to a different school. It will all work out in the end.
So we will start with Izzy:
Height 45.25 inches 93%ile
Weight 41.0 pounds 60.04%ile
BMI 14.08 Index 16.06%
BP 111/63 (YIKES! they rechecked it though and it was 96/62 - so much better) I guess she takes after daddy and has anxiety at the doctors.
Temperature 98.6
Heart Rate 100/minute
Respiratory Rate 20/minute
Hemoglobin 12.2 (so normal)
She taught her stranger danger, answered some questions I had about her stomach pains (she feels like it might be behavior, but need to make sure she is regular in her bowel movements) - decrease dairy, carbs, etc (so pretty much everything Izzy enjoys eating) to try to supplement more Fiber into her diet. She had to get her kindergarten shots (DTAP and IPV in one shot, MMRV in another). Izzy cried and was upset, but at least this time she did't scream at the top of her lungs "I DON'T WANT A SHOT!!" so we made improvements. We walked out and she kept crying "my arm hurts, my arm hurts - but I didn't scream this time". I was proud that she is learning how to handle her emotions.
Brooklynn:
Height 39.5 inches 96.09%ile (she grew about 4 inches in 1 year!)
Weight 37.2 pounds 94.38%ile
BMI 16.76 Index 76.63%ile
BP 74/55
Temperature 97.9 F
Heart Rate 120/minute
Respiratory Rate 24/min
Dr. B said that it is a good thing she is so tall because that helps decrease her body mass index percentile (anything over 85% is concern for obesity). She said that Brooklynn is the average size of a 4 year old. We talked about her asthma control, and that we have been off Flovent for <1 week but so far we are doing okay. She said that it's okay to wean her off, and just start back up if we need to. Also, we need to start allergy medicine. I updated her on her developmental evaluations from the school district and that we have an appointment tomorrow with neurosurgery and developmental at CMH next week. She said to just ask them to fax a letter to her so she can stay up to date on what they determine. She did say it might not be a bad idea to contact the Cleveland Clinic (which has a PTEN Clinic) just because they might be able to provide us with an idea of what is commonly seen, even though she is not developing too many concerns. She said right now we are having to go between different specialists, but not all of them are tied together, and if we can get a clinic that can tie everything together and give us a clear action plan on what to watch for and what our concerns are at this point. She said that it might be able to just be a contact, or they might even ask for us to come up there.
Overall it was a nice appointment. Validation for some of my questions, and also it was nice to hear "everything looks good". Those are always a nice dah.
Unfortunately, though, with this appointment, Brooklynn was late on her last day at school - and we totally missed bringing snacks, and they were going to celebrate her birthday today. Hopefully she was able to enjoy the rest of her last day at Hilltop. Today is a little bit of a sad day because we will be moving on to a different school. It will all work out in the end.
Happy 5th Birthday Izzy!
Isabella (or Izzy as you like to be called),
Wow I can't believe you are already 5. I know it is cliche, but it seems like only yesterday that I held your little tiny body in my arms, and fell in the minute my eyes laid on you. You have had my heart in your hands ever since. Every day you grow and learn, and every day my love for you grows. You have taught me more than you can ever imagine in 5 short years. You are full of so much love and enjoyment about life. Your curly hair and dark brown eyes are amazing. Your smile with two big girl teeth growing in on the bottom is infectious. Your laugh just makes any bad moods melt away. Your bear hugs make my heart melt even more.
You are always there to help, you want to try to learn how to be a big girl, and want to do big girl things. You are 5 going on 16. You love applying makeup, and occassionally you ask me to straighten your hair. You have a sense of humor. You are very concerned about doing the right thing, and are asking for permission often. You are learning your limits, and when it is okay to say no, but occassionally need reminders. You are full of adventure, and love to do things outside. There is nothing better than sitting reading you a book, or listening to you read to me, or cuddling and watching a movie with you and your sister.
What are your likes? You love playing with your little sister. You are the best big sister anybody could ever hope for. You encourage her to try new things, you are willing to share (most of the time), you want to teach her, and you are always there to give her a hug when you see that she is upset or sad. You enjoy dance. You are always dancing around the living room, in the backseat when you hear music, or in dance class. You love your Wiggles and Giggles class, and are learning the skills of ballet and tap. You are very excited for your recital coming up in a month. You love to sing. In fact, you sing any time you hear a song come on. Most of the time, you learn the songs and are able to sing them. You sing about what you are doing. You ask me if you can "sing this song" when one of my songs come on the radio. You love to play with your Barbies, your legos, your baby dolls, and you like to pretend you are a waitress, I am the chef, and your sister is the customer. You have such an enthusiasm for learning. You are always wanting to "do your homework" (which means you either are coloring in a book, practicing writing, practicing reading, or doing a workbook). You stress out when I ask you to get ready for bed if you are not quite done. You have an artistic side to you, and love to draw, and you also love practicing your letters. You love to make new friends. You go any where and you usually walk out with a new friend. You are very personable, and are always wanting to help others.
What are your dislikes? You still do not like things in costume (such as Mickey, Snoopy at WOF, Santa, the Easter Bunny). You pretty much go screaming the other way.
What you Have learned: You are learning to count - and can make it up to 39 without help. After that, you just need assistance with remembering the big number (40, 50, 60, etc), but can count between those numbers). You can write most of the letters, but need a little assistance with the bigger letters. You are able to recognize all your letters, and can write them all out (and you are now working on your lowercase). You are able to start putting words together, and are learning your prereading skills. You are learning what sounds the letters make, and sometimes can figure out how to spell and/or read a word just by sounding out the letters. You can write your name, Brooklynn's name, mommy, daddy, nana, papa, mason, sawyer, mia, sugar, and some other words with assistance. You are learning to use your words when you are upset. You tell me "that makes me very angry", "that hurts my feelings", and occassionally I have heard you use the phrase "that breaks my heart". You are learning how to do a cartwheel, how to stand on your hands, how to hopscotch, and even how to ride a big girl bike (you are able to brake using both the pedals and the handlebar brakes.
You truly are amazing Izzy, and I am very excited to see how much you grow in this next year. This year will be a big one - you will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. You will graduate to a big girl dance class. You will be trying some new and exciting things this year. I am very excited that I get to see all that you are becoming, and that I get to say that I am your mom. I thoroughly enjoy every second I have with you (even those trying times when you ask me the same question 10 times, or don't take no - I have to say you are definitely persistant) :). I never thought it would be possible, but my love for you grows every day. I thank God every day for this journey I get to take with you.
Love you always and forever, love you mostest ostest, from here to the moon and back,
your Mommy
Wow I can't believe you are already 5. I know it is cliche, but it seems like only yesterday that I held your little tiny body in my arms, and fell in the minute my eyes laid on you. You have had my heart in your hands ever since. Every day you grow and learn, and every day my love for you grows. You have taught me more than you can ever imagine in 5 short years. You are full of so much love and enjoyment about life. Your curly hair and dark brown eyes are amazing. Your smile with two big girl teeth growing in on the bottom is infectious. Your laugh just makes any bad moods melt away. Your bear hugs make my heart melt even more.
You are always there to help, you want to try to learn how to be a big girl, and want to do big girl things. You are 5 going on 16. You love applying makeup, and occassionally you ask me to straighten your hair. You have a sense of humor. You are very concerned about doing the right thing, and are asking for permission often. You are learning your limits, and when it is okay to say no, but occassionally need reminders. You are full of adventure, and love to do things outside. There is nothing better than sitting reading you a book, or listening to you read to me, or cuddling and watching a movie with you and your sister.
What are your likes? You love playing with your little sister. You are the best big sister anybody could ever hope for. You encourage her to try new things, you are willing to share (most of the time), you want to teach her, and you are always there to give her a hug when you see that she is upset or sad. You enjoy dance. You are always dancing around the living room, in the backseat when you hear music, or in dance class. You love your Wiggles and Giggles class, and are learning the skills of ballet and tap. You are very excited for your recital coming up in a month. You love to sing. In fact, you sing any time you hear a song come on. Most of the time, you learn the songs and are able to sing them. You sing about what you are doing. You ask me if you can "sing this song" when one of my songs come on the radio. You love to play with your Barbies, your legos, your baby dolls, and you like to pretend you are a waitress, I am the chef, and your sister is the customer. You have such an enthusiasm for learning. You are always wanting to "do your homework" (which means you either are coloring in a book, practicing writing, practicing reading, or doing a workbook). You stress out when I ask you to get ready for bed if you are not quite done. You have an artistic side to you, and love to draw, and you also love practicing your letters. You love to make new friends. You go any where and you usually walk out with a new friend. You are very personable, and are always wanting to help others.
What are your dislikes? You still do not like things in costume (such as Mickey, Snoopy at WOF, Santa, the Easter Bunny). You pretty much go screaming the other way.
What you Have learned: You are learning to count - and can make it up to 39 without help. After that, you just need assistance with remembering the big number (40, 50, 60, etc), but can count between those numbers). You can write most of the letters, but need a little assistance with the bigger letters. You are able to recognize all your letters, and can write them all out (and you are now working on your lowercase). You are able to start putting words together, and are learning your prereading skills. You are learning what sounds the letters make, and sometimes can figure out how to spell and/or read a word just by sounding out the letters. You can write your name, Brooklynn's name, mommy, daddy, nana, papa, mason, sawyer, mia, sugar, and some other words with assistance. You are learning to use your words when you are upset. You tell me "that makes me very angry", "that hurts my feelings", and occassionally I have heard you use the phrase "that breaks my heart". You are learning how to do a cartwheel, how to stand on your hands, how to hopscotch, and even how to ride a big girl bike (you are able to brake using both the pedals and the handlebar brakes.
You truly are amazing Izzy, and I am very excited to see how much you grow in this next year. This year will be a big one - you will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. You will graduate to a big girl dance class. You will be trying some new and exciting things this year. I am very excited that I get to see all that you are becoming, and that I get to say that I am your mom. I thoroughly enjoy every second I have with you (even those trying times when you ask me the same question 10 times, or don't take no - I have to say you are definitely persistant) :). I never thought it would be possible, but my love for you grows every day. I thank God every day for this journey I get to take with you.
Love you always and forever, love you mostest ostest, from here to the moon and back,
your Mommy
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