Curriculum 2015-2016

If you are a curriculum/homeschool fan or if you are just curious about what we are studying this year, click on over to The BookSharking Bunch to see what I have planned for this school year!

School Readiness

The beginning of a new school year is upon us and this year, I'm adding a new preschooler!  I'll give you a few hints who it is: She just turned three, she is probably too young to start preschool, and she is half of my Double Trouble team (look for a post on that soon).  If you guessed Lula (or Dori Ann as she calls herself), you guessed right!  Lula isn't really doing anything structured, I only want to keep her from sneaking outside and getting attacked by a goose.  I have a preschool curriculum called Letter of the Week that has a weekly schedule with plenty of activities.  I know Lula isn't ready for some of the activities so I'll be able to stretch it over two years.  The only problem is that the whole curriculum is a PDF and color printing is quite costly.

Good thing I have a few tricks up my sleeve, eh?  One of the new additions to the homeschool is a laminator. Instead of printing page-sized colored letters, I just bought a pack of upper case letters from the Dollar Store. Then six letters were laminated at a time, cut out, and hole punched for lacing.  Even the laces are shoe laces from the Dollar Store.

I showed Lula her letters and the first thing she did was make an accessory out of the D. Hm, what is it with my girls and their fashion sense? She has been wearing that bathing suit for at least a month.

I love homeschooling the preschool years and I'm so happy that I never run out of ideas or inspiration or even preschoolers! I'm also planning on posting my other school plans, but you'll have to read about it on my new, open-to-the-public blog that I'm experimenting with this year.  Check it out: The BookSharking Bunch.  I started it last spring when the new BookShark curriculum Facebook page members started asking for people to list their homeschool blogs.  I didn't really want a bunch of strangers coming here, so I started a new one.  I'll let you know when I have a post written for the upcoming school year.

One Month Old

What a month, eh?

This is my favorite shirt, for obvious reasons.  Feed him.  That's all he wants.  As long as he has a full belly, he is quite happy.  He is just an all around happy kind of guy!  Even when he is hungry, he doesn't cry.  He just vigorously sucks his binky. The only time he cries is when he needs to pass gas or blow out a diaper.  There is no pacing with a fussy baby this time and for that, I am extremely thankful.  When the doctor asked if Jason was irritable (when they were trying to figure out why he wasn't gaining weight), I was like, "Compared to what? Heidi was the most irritable child I've ever known, with Ian in a close second. This baby isn't even grumpy!"

He sleeps well, tolerates dairy (hooray!), and likes to get up at around 4:00 every morning for some play time.  I don't mind getting up that early.  We usually come out to the living room because this is also his loudest time a day.  He starts "talking" loudly and I don't want Mark to wake up.  Then he goes back down for a nice long nap around 6:00, right about the time I'm ready for my morning coffee.

Now that the stress of his weight gain is behind us, I feel like I can finally bond with this guy.  It didn't take long for me to fall head over heels for my wee man.  I love his big brown eyes, his wrinkly forehead, his sweet little mouth, and his tiny little chin.  He is so soft and sweet and I love cuddling him.  I'm not the only one that has gone Jason-crazy.  My four girls also love holding him and feeding him and two of my boys give him affection as they pass by (one boy is still waiting for Jason to grow out of the floppy stage before he will hold him). 

And now that we've hurdled this milestone, it is time to get back to Homeschool Plans...

Are We There Yet?

Four days ago, Jason weighed 8lbs 1oz.  Today, he weighed 8lbs 9oz.  Doctor's like to see a weight gain of a half ounce per day.  They LOVED seeing 2 ounces per day for Jason.  Saturday, he woke up hungry and he has been eating ever since.  I'm trying to increase my milk supply with every trick I know, but it hasn't been enough.  I had to buy formula.  And thank goodness he tolerates it well.  (I tried formula one time on Heidi. She was violently ill for hours after just 2 ounces.)

Also, Jason't ALT levels are in the normal range.  And his AST levels are almost normal!  The doctor doesn't need us to come back for a whole week!

The Skinny Part 3

Thursday's test results showed even higher levels of AST and ALT.  Today we had an ultrasound of his liver and we will hopefully have results tomorrow.  We are still waiting for 1) results on CMV and EBV 2) results on rare metabolic disorders that are tested during the PKU screening and 3) New tests that were rescheduled for next week after 1) and 2).  We waited on the new tests because Jason can only have 16mL of blood drawn every 14 days.  As of today, they've taken 10mL. The remaining tests need 5mL, which only leaves 1mL for emergencies.  Some of the tests will not need to be run based on the ultrasound and PKU test results.

He is holding steady at 8lbs 1oz.

Our next appointment is Tuesday morning.

I'm trying to not be anxious or worry, but that is almost impossible. I'm guilty of imagining worst case scenarios.  But I would like to end with some positives: We've been able to rule out muscular dystrophy!  And when I went in to the imaging lab to make the appointment, they could see me right away. And finally, the urine collections have been funny.  He needed a sterile sample, so the nurses needed to use a catheter. He decided to not wait for them and went right around the tube into the vial.  And for today's sample, they stuck a U bag to him. And not only did it not work, the sample magically leaked out of the diaper all over the ultrasound table. Our second and last chance to collect ended up in his car seat. It ended up okay because the urine needed to be sampled at the same time as one of the other tests that was postponed (and could only be drawn at the children's hospital).

**Edited to add: ultrasound NORMAL!

Jason doesn't act like a sick baby.  He acts completely normal if not extra hungry! He is alert and active and sleeps normally too.  The elevated enzyme levels are so mysterious!

The Skinny Part 2

Lookin a bit thin, aren't ya?

Jason at 18 days old is still not gaining weight.  He is still 7lbs 13oz, even with supplemental feedings. The doctor ordered some blood tests yesterday, which showed elevated liver enzymes.  This could be caused by all sorts of things (Dr Google shows some scary results), so she is having a specialist at Children's Hospital take a look at his results today.  Tomorrow we go back for a follow up weight check and blood test.