Seaworld 2012

We went to Seaworld this passed weekend. We drove down on Friday & drove home on Monday. Hurricane Sandy passed over us briefly while we were there, but we only got cold temps, wind & some rain. Nothing to awful. Thank goodness.

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Sean, being the true to form self that he is, came down with croup on Thursday night. Nothing like making it interesting kid. Thankfully for him (and us) we had some prednisolone on hand to give him & quiet things down quickly. Sean was pretty cruddy the whole weekend, but he had fun. Mostly.

Memories were made this weekend and for that I'm grateful. I'm thankful we got the opportunity to do something we all could enjoy that we don't get to do all the time.

There are a lot of pictures, but we really did have an awesome time. I couldn't narrow it down. That's not true. I did narrow it down. :)

   

Hurricane Sandy rolling in

Bed hogs

Picking an oyster

 

Poor sick Seany slept most of the 1st Seaworld day

And just like a Scott..... hand right in the shirt. Even when sleeping.

Underwater Tunnel

Rays 

Meredith explaining what's going on

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH"

Sesame Street Show

OOOOooohhhhhhh

Underwater Ray tank

Sean figured out that the birds would eat right out of his hand and he thought it was the bees knees.

Dine with Shamu

Rocking with Shamu

I totally got conned into buying this stupid thing

And then walking it

And then it hogged the rest of the bed

Dolphin encounter

Getting blood drawn

Sean had to be worn because he technically wasn't old enough to be in there
participating, but they let us slide. It was the best part of the whole trip.

Touching rays

"Meredith you better put your poncho on. You're gonna get wet." It's ok mommy I like to get wet.

Our aquatic bounty from halloween games. 1 lg octopus, 1 small octopus, 4 penguins, 2 dolphins, 2 turtles & the giant Shamu. 

Watching the acrobatics at the dolphin show. 

Looking down at Atlantis

Dude! She reached in & touched it's knee. 

Looks realistic doesn't it?

There's always one oddball. 

Where's Seany?

Night one at home



Night 2 at home with the aquatic entourage

Sibling Love

   

Preschool Update

Both kids have now been in school for a month. We've settled into our routine of waking up, having breakfast, getting dressed & heading out. Even with what people here consider heavy traffic, it only takes me 15 minutes to get to school. It used to take me the same amount of time to get to the one here in town.

Meredith has settled in nicely and has learned the rules of the classroom. Not that she didn't know them before, but every teacher has their own. She loves her teacher & gets along well with her classmates. Her teacher has suggested that Meredith is indeed ready to move onto to kindergarten next year (both socially & academically) instead of waiting another year (she just misses the age cut off), but I'm going to wait.

I'd say by the level of silliness that Meredith is doing very well with her 

adjustment to NC & a new school. 

Sean has also settled in nicely. He has learned the routine of class very well & has shown that he understands what his teachers are asking of him. His service coordinator sat in on two classes with 2 different teachers to see where Sean fit better and he fits better with his original teachers. He's happy and they treat him the same as they treat everyone else. They have & enforce the same expectations of him as they do everyone else & Sean has thrived.

Sean's coordinator pointed out some areas where she felt the teachers could change things up.... I wanted to say improve, but improve is not the right word. Just change things up that may help the class run more efficiently. Hmmmmm Oh well. You know what I mean.

Sean is able to tell us about the pictures he's made in school. The other day he held up a picture of green scribble & orange fingerprint dots. He told Rob & me that they were pumpkins. And his "pumpkin" could have been understood by anyone. We're so proud. What makes me extremely happy is that the teachers make/allow Sean to do the art projects on his own.

 He sits in circle time with no issue & now that he's walking, he's able to walk from activity to activity with little help. He does wait for help to get onto the chair for snack time.

He knows his way around the school like it's no one's business. He's really shown us that enrolling him in a typical preschool was the best decision for him. Enrolling him in this preschool was the right decision for all of us.

I truly could not be more proud of Sean and could not be happier with how much he has matured in such a short time. I also could not be happier to have a school that both my children are thriving in with teachers and a director that truly care about the kids. 

Heart Surgery 2 Years Later

Take a look at this kid. Would you ever know that he had heart surgery at just under 3 months old?


   

I can't believe that it's been 2 whole years. I still can't believe we all survived the anticipation of preop.

I cried with my friend Julie the other day when she wondered how she'd tell her oldest son that the baby in her belly hadn't survived, if that's what happened (God forbid). I cried because I was sad for her & because I remembered that feeling. I used to wonder how I'd tell Meredith if Sean didn't survive his surgery. I wondered how she'd react to seeing him sedated with tubes & wires. I didn't have any answers for Julie. I feel bad that I couldn't offer up any wisdom. I had never come up with an answer myself. Thank goodness I didn't have to.

It's hard. It's hard to relive too, but it humbles me. I relive the same fear and anticipation that I had when I handed him over. I feel the guilt & angst I felt at feeling as if I had done something wrong to cause his heart issue.

Then I look at him. I watch him playing. I see him goto school. And I see how his CICU nurse likes his videos & pictures on Facebook. And I'm humbled once more. Without modern medicine. Without nurses like Eunice. Without surgeons like Dr. Bacha. Without a whole village of people keeping Rob and me calm and reminding us that we had chosen the best to care for our son..... We would not have made it through with any bit of sanity. We would not have survived and certainly would've fallen into an exhausted mess of parent.

Being silly. Thank goodness chicks dig scars right?

My walking fool at the pizzeria

   

I did it. I got it on video!

He's just a stinker. He's a walking fool these days :) and I'm loving every second of it. I don't care how much chasing after him I have to do.

I'm proud of my grandpa

He has experienced more than I ever will. He has more wisdom & knowledge than I could ever hope to have. He's coy when he smiles and he's a man of few words. Aside from what I know of him in the 35 years I am alive, I don't know much. I don't know how he relates to his world around him. I don't know how his mind navigates challenges. I have no idea what makes him proud. That's not true. Someone being themselves makes him proud. That I've always known. I know of few pleasures aside from art (in various forms) & a good conversation.  I know that he's rather shy until there's something to be passionate about and then he's front & center.

But all that changed when I sat down to read his latest book. Couraggio!.



As I read, I noticed that he was offering a glimpse into his story. The whole story. Yes the first book gave us a glimpse of how his mind operates, but this one..... Well..... it filled in pieces of a puzzle I had no idea I was trying to put together.

I marked pages that I didn't want to lose because they spoke volumes into how similar we really are. I had no idea! It's like having a love affair with planes & all things flying and finding out that you're related to Wilbur Wright.

Thank you grandpa for giving me (us) something we didn't know we wanted or needed. Your book was pure poetry. We love you and we hope that your signing has a fabulous turn out.