A Very Productive Doctor Visit

Nate’s two-month well child visit was this last Thursday.  The big boys actually had the day off from school for some reason, so they ended up coming along.  Everyone was in a GREAT mood, especially Ben.

Nate is growing well.  He was 13 lb 11 oz.  He has just begun smiling and cooing.  He’s doing all the things a two month old should do.  So then it was time for his two month shots.

Nate is too young for flu shots, so she recommended that the rest of the family get flu shots.  So then she asked if we would like the other boys to get theirs while they were all there.

What a great idea!  We broke the news to the big boys that EVERYONE would be getting a shot, not just Nate.  They were understandably unhappy, especially Jonny who just recently got 4 shots in preparation for kindergarten.  I felt very sorry for poor Ben who was in such a happy mood when we got there.  Fortunately, he cheered up quickly after his shot.

The big boys were brave, and we made a quick trip to Target to get them a reward.  Isaac chose a Bakugan (from the reward cupboard at home since they were all sold out at Target as usual), and Jonny chose some Pokemon cards.  And we don’t have to think about shots again for another year!

Green Tea Ice Cream

I love green tea ice cream.  I first tasted it at a Japanese restaurant in the area only a few years ago, and I couldn’t believe that such a wonderful flavor wasn’t sold at the supermarket along with the vanilla and chocolate.  It turns out that in our small town, if you want green tea ice cream (and you didn’t want to go to a restaurant with four young children), you’d have to make your own.

My only problem was that the Japanese green tea/matcha powder isn’t sold locally either.  Fortunately, our friend Miss Behaving sent us some genuine matcha powder all the way from Japan this summer.  You know it’s real matcha when you can’t even read the writing on the package!  Isaac, who is very much into Nintendo, Pokemon, Bakugan, and all things Japanese, was very impressed.  He eagerly volunteered to help me make some green tea ice cream.

This was my first attempt at making any kind of ice cream.  I found this recipe online and I doubled the amounts.  It turned out to be really simple to make.

We dissolved the matcha powder in some hot water, made some custard out of sugar, egg yolks, milk and cream…

…combined everything and cooled it…

…and churned it in our trusty Kitchen Aid.

It turned out really well!  It was simply delicious, and the entire container was eaten in less than a week by Mark, Isaac and myself.  OK, maybe I had more than my fair share! 

Thank you, Miss Behaving, for a real treat!

Adjusting

This was my first week back to work after a too-short 8-week maternity leave.  Work is OK, but it certainly has been a challenge adjusting to life as a working mom of four.   And of course, Mark is adjusting to being the primary caregiver of four young boys!  We used to have a fairly predictable routine, but all that has changed with Nate’s birth and Jonny starting kindergarten.  The kids are having a little trouble adjusting to this new life too this week.

Isaac is doing great in second grade so far.  He is a good, obedient student, and we never have to worry about his behavior at school.  He seems to enjoy his class, his friends, and he seems to like his new teacher.  He and his friends play with these Bakugan figures at recess (apparently it’s the new cool toy for second graders), and he is always pestering us to buy more of them.

Isaac is playing AYSO soccer, and moved up to the under-10 team this fall.  He’s not too happy about the change, because the game has suddenly become more challenging.  He says he wants to quit the team, but of course we told him that he can’t until this fall season is over.  We have tried to remind him that he felt the same way when he started the under-8 team two years ago, and by the end of the second year he was really enjoying the game.

Jonny started all-day kindergarten, and it has definitely been a huge adjustment for him, since his preschool last year was just three mornings a week, and was decidedly unstructured.  Jonny is an active, gregarious child, so his teacher is already having issues with him talking in class when he shouldn’t be.  Poor Jonny.  I really want him to enjoy school, and I don’t want him to be labelled as a problem child in kindergarten.  Maybe we should have waited another year before starting school.  We’ll give it a month or two and see how he does.  I suppose we can always pull him out of kindergarten if it doesn’t work out.

Jonny is also playing soccer this fall, and he’s having a BLAST!

Ben and Nate are adjusting to each other.  They’ve been hanging out in their double stroller during soccer games and practice…

Adjusting isn’t always fun.  I can’t wait until we settle into a good NEW routine.

Grandparents’ Day/CdLS Blog Challenge

How lucky we are to have Grandma (my mom) here for Grandparents’ Day!  The little boys especially are basking in her attention.  Ben tried his best to ignore her at first, but now they are the best of friends.  She even manages to calm Nate during his fussy periods in the evenings.  Mark and I really appreciated the extra help.

Of course, both my parents have always been so helpful – my Dad came out to help us when Ben was first born, and my Mom came out when Ben was in the hospital for his g-tube surgery.   I don’t know how we would have managed otherwise.

Grandma will be flying to Trinidad all too soon, but we are all eagerly awaiting her return!

New Gait Trainer!

We’ve had a loaner gait trainer for Ben for several months, but last week we finally got him one of his very own!   Our awesome physical therapist got the process started several months ago, and Ben’s pediatrician wrote a letter of medical necessity for it.  Both our private insurance and Medicaid approved it, so it shouldn’t cost us anything out of pocket.  For that we are very grateful.

It is quite a bit larger than the loaner, but so far Ben seems to like it.  He has finally managed to take a couple tentative steps FORWARD instead of backward like he usually does!

First Day of School

Tuesday morning was the official end of our summer vacation.  It was Jonny’s first day of kindergarten, and Isaac started second grade.  Surprisingly, the boys both got ready promptly.

Doesn’t Jonny look sooooo ready for kindergarten?  Of course Isaac realizes it’s just back to the same old routine so he doesn’t look nearly as thrilled.

Jonny did well for his first day.  To my relief, he walked back with the school secretary to his classroom without looking back.

This week the kindergarten class lets out at noon.  Jonny looked a little untidy after his first day, but happy.  Next week he’ll be going for full days.  I hope he continues to enjoy school even after the novelty has worn off.

In other news, Isaac has a brand new second grade teacher!  He really likes her.  I hope we get to meet her sometime soon.

And so the school year begins.  I’ve begun to notice that between schoolwork and after-school activities that time really flies when school is in session.  Before we know it, it will be summer again.