Leaps and Bounds....sniff sniff

Every Sunday evening during the school year, Princess heads off to AWANA's. It's a wonderful program where she experiences bible stories, music, games and they begin verse memorization. She started as a Cubbie 2 years ago, and it's now time to graduate to Sparks. Or as she calls it "Sparkies". They had a little end of year ceremony and I'm not sure what happened to Momma but I got a little choked up with my Cubbie moving on. Husband thinks we're in big trouble if I'm having troubles with processing Cubbie graduation. But here are a few pictures from her big night.

Getting her final award. They earn patches all year long
and this is a ribbon for completing all Cubbie requirements.

Cubbie Bear came to visit

Princess enjoys Mother's Day, I think more than me at this age. She started making plans with Husband about a month ago. I think I've created a Holiday Monster! The day after Mother's Day she asked me what the next holiday is to celebrate. We'll deal with the counseling for that later. So for Mother's Day we have a little tradition of breakfast in bed, which is always well received. This year Husband included a portion for Princess so she doesn't eat all of my breakfast. (he's so smart) After church we went on a picnic. We usually go to a lovely park a few towns over that is filled with every flower imaginable, however I decided this year to embrace the kiddosat this age and go to the park they would enjoy the most, the train park. We had a lovely time and Jimmo especially enjoyed the train.

This video is a little fuzzy but I felt it was worth sharing. This is one of Jimmo's favorite activities with his sister. They have a few silly games they play and hopefully more as he understands more. (pause the music below)

Leaving the picnic area to visit the train

Many of you both local and visitors, have enjoyed this train. Jimmo is getting at the age where he comprehends what a train is, so I think this trip was a bit of a surprise for him that we were riding one. He's probably been on this train at least 20 times before.

Loading on to the train, he's taking everything in still

Our excitement level when the train whistled and took off

Princess riding the carousal while we waited for the train

And this is the kids and I in the hammock while Daddy did the dishes from dinner. Perfect day!

Yesterday was Kindergarten orientation for Princess. Another leap I don't think I'm ready for. But I guess WE have an entire summer to prepare for this. It was a fun afternoon and now she has a visual of her Kindergarten class to think about over these next few summer months. Are any decisions ever easy with parenthood? Well maybe a couple......Should we go get some ice cream? and Should we go to the pool today?

2 Busy Weeks

Another catch up blog :0) AKA - photo dump.

We had a lovely Easter this year. Small smoke out in the kitchen when the ham marinade spilled, but we all survived and so did the food. Princess and I made a craft this year to remember how our Lord died on the cross for us. It was a bit more complicated then necessary (shocker) but it turned out to be something we can keep for years to come. Our Pappy came down to visit. The D's and Uncle Muscles also came over.

A few shots right after church before the children got to disheveled.

After dinner we went out to find the 100 plus eggs that husband hid for the kids. They had a blast. It was a bit muddy so we opted for rain boots with Easter dresses - trend setters!

I wonder if this picture captures their personalities in 10 years!

And we ended the beautiful day with some lamb cake. Hmmm - we'll try again next year.

We had an opportunity arise to visit our cousins (and Aunt B and Uncle J). We knew all week we were going but waited until the evening before we left to tell princess so she didn't stone us for the week with her excitement. Such cruel parents we are. But boy did we have fun! Just a few shots to share. Cousin M and Princess were quite silly together...

Cousin L sure did know how to make Jimmo laugh. Here is a quick snippet of some giggles. Not sure why it's fuzzy, and unfortunately this time I can't blame my camera man.

Daddy walking the rock line with JimmoAnd we ended the evening with a cousin talent show. It was one of their best yet!

Yesterday we decided to take a field trip to the ER. Jimmo took a tumble in the classroom and some how managed to land on top of his sippy cup. Needless to say, the sippy cup won this battle. I was thankfully in the gym of the school when it happened so I got to the nurses office quickly. Poor little guy was quite beaten up and more than a little upset. But luckily, the laceration above his eyelid was at just the right spot where it would heal best on it's own and no stitches required. They also checked his eyeball to make sure there was no damage (took 5 of us to hold him still). During some down time as he watched TV I was able to snag a quick hospital picture on my phone. The results.....he looks like he was struck in the face with a baseball bat but...all is well! Until we learn how to throw those hands out to break our falls, I have a feeling I might be blogging about ER trips more than I would like.

And we'll end with our race today. Jimmo's school had a race for Autism this morning. Dad did the 5K with J and Uncle Muscles. Jimmo, Princess and SG did the Kids Dash. Everyone had a blast - even the wounded!

And they're off! (Uncle Muscles is behind them and peeled away during the race)

Yea Daddy's!!!

A good close up shot...well at least the goose egg and the new wounds are all on the same side! Thanks Pappy for pushing me all morning on the swing!

Competitive Egg Rolls

Each year we participate in our communities annual egg roll. It literally is over within 20 seconds but for some reason we go back each year. Princess lined up in the category of 4-6 year old. Husband and her discussed strategy the whole way over and rehearsed again while standing on the starting line.

Waiting patiently for the start

It's so competitive that you would think a gunshot would kick off the race but instead a woman just yells "go". And about 50 kids go running into a small field to hopefully retrieve at least one egg.

Here we are about to pass the little boy we stood in line with - go Princess go!

Husbands strategy worked as she collected about 5 eggs with random melted candies that have peanuts in them. Oh the joys! But she did better then last year and felt good about a successful egg hunt. My heart always weeps for the little one's who didn't hear the word "go" or got a little shy and decided to wait till the big kids started running. Tears and egg rolls don't mix. Little man enjoyed running around in a large open field. He was testing us to see how far he could get. Afterwards we sat down to look at our eggs and Jimmo enjoyed his bucket.

No eggs, no problem!

But speaking of eggs, he might not have gotten any at the Easter Egg Roll, but he certainly got one last night - a goose egg that is! Happy Easter - just in time for pictures!

I had literally just gotten off the phone with Aunt B and I heard a thump. It wasn't an alarming sound of a thump. More the kind that you freeze and listen to see if there is going to be a cry or not. There was definitely a cry, a very sad cry. In the hall sat little man and it appeared that he walked right into the door. Door meet Jimmo, Jimmo meet door. I had heard about these goose eggs before but have never seen one in action. Within seconds I watched it grow on his forehead. I was panicked it wasn't going to stop growing but it finally did. Attempting ice on his head was like catching a slimy frog in a pond, but I did my best. One day down of spring break and we already have a battle wound - yikes!

Cherry Blossoms Are Here

As I've shared in earlier posts, since Jimmo is in school and Princess is still home with me for this last year, we schedule some fun time together on Fridays. We call it - Field Trip Friday. So with the cherry blossoms in bloom, we decided to take advantage of this beautiful site. I was delightfully surprised at her interest in them . They are truly breathtaking how they drape over the paths and almost into the Tidal Basin. It was a bit foggy, cold and damp, but here is a shot where you can kind of see how they cascade into the water.

We did a cherry blossom tour with a National Park Tour Ranger. I'm not sure about all of you, but I always thought the trees were given to us as a peace offering after WWII. With that said, I've definitely revealed how much I did not pay attention in my high school history classes. So I thought I would give a quick background on the Cherry Blossoms for those of you who wrote notes to your friends during history class like I did.

• 1909 - A visiting Japanese dignitary offered a donation of 2,000 trees to First Lady Taft who was working on a beautification program in the District. The initial trees given were actually infested with disease and needed to be burned. The same dignitary offered another 3,020 trees to replace them a few years later.


• 1935 - The cherry trees were thriving and the First Cherry Blossom Festival was held.


• 1938 - A group of women chained themselves to the cherry trees in an effort to save them during the construction of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.


• 1952 - The parent stock of D.C.'s first cherry trees were destroyed during WWII. United States National Park services sent budwood from descendants of US trees back to Tokyo in hopes of restoring their original site. (WWII was from 1939 - 1945)


• 1954 - The Japanese ambassador presented the US with a 300 year old Japanese Lantern. This is on the cherry blossom walk at the Tidal Basin.


• 1965 - Japanese Government sent another 3,800 trees to Lady Bird Johnson for planting.


• 1982 - The US sent 800 cuttings from the Tidal Basin trees to Japan to replace trees that perished in a flood.


• 1999 - 50 trees are propagated from the 1400+ old tree growing in the Itasho Neo village in Japan as a gift to the US.

So rather than a peace offering it's actually a gift giving cycle with Japan and the US that continues even today. The trees are considered a symbol of friendship between the two countries.

We also learned a lot about the maturation of these trees. This was what Princess was interested in the most. It was quite fascinating to see and hear the process. This is Princess in a Magnolia tree (saucer Magnolia to be exact). You're obviously not allowed to sit in the Cherry Blossom trees.

And then we also went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Her first comment was - "That's a very big man, Momma".

So after a few hours we were very cold and hungry. So much for the picnic lunch I packed for the sunny 68 degrees weather we were supposed to have. So I offered her some hot chocolate at Starbucks and she said she wanted a Cheeseburger. Interesting choice....so off to Johnny Rockets we went. A cheeseburger and milkshake can always make you warm inside!

So if anyone wants to visit next year for the Cherry Blossom festival - we are well equipped to give a tour! More on Jimmo soon.

Bring on the Madness

Folks, it's 15 minutes till tip off of the Sweet Sixteen game. Syracuse is in the house and our family is ready. We've worn the appropriate gear all day, we drank Sunkist and orange Gatorade and we ate Syracuse pizza. Go Orange!!!

Kennedy Krieger - Year Two

And then there was March. Not sure what happened to most of February. We've had a busy and fun month. Growing and Growing. Well we'll start with a fun picture that brings a smile to my heart. If you remember Dirty Socks, you'll appreciate this one.

We had a baby shower for our friends and their sweet little A. She's about to undergo her 2nd heart surgery in a few weeks, so please keep her in your prayers.

And then it was Daddy's birthday. We had a fun family birthday party for him. Decorations and everything this year. For his cake we made him a delicious banana cream pie (Thank you TP!). Wasn't necessarily Gluten Casein Free so Jimmo had some cookies.

Jimmo is going to town on Daddy's present! Much more interested then he was at Christmas.

The crew with the birthday pie!

And yesterday was our annual trip to Kennedy Krieger Institute. Thanks to the D's for watching our princess. This institute is where our closest Fragile X Clinic is located. We visited them in March of 08, and this served as our baseline visit. So we completed the same testing and then sat with the panel of doctors like last year. Last Thursday we went up and completed the psychological evaluation (Bayley's for those of you in the field). This is always a tough test for Husband and I because we know Jimmo's abilities are better then he performs, but when he is asked to sit in adult chair at an adult desk and in a hot room this automatically equals poor results. But we just keep reminding ourselves that this is just a standardized test, which is needed, but we know him best.

Yesterday's testing included a speech therapist, who also completed the ADOS testing for Autism. This was about the same results as of Thursday. We stripped him down to his wife beater and took frequent brakes because of the small hot rooms. We then took a well needed lunch. Husband and I found a cup of coffee and then headed over to the pizza joint we went to last year. Mmmm very hard to find a good meatball hoagie and this one is quite good! Yes I said hoagie - not sub! We then met with the Psychiatrist to talk about behavior. We know that were very blessed in this area as Jimmo generally doesn't have any behavior issues beyond a typical developing toddler. We try to discipline him at "his" cognitive level, as we would any child. So far - so good. Next we met with the Neurologist who is the head doctor of this clinic. I might have mentioned last year that he's a unique doctor because he does research for Fragile X as well as clinically treating the patients. We talked a lot about his gross motor skills and he felt that Little man was progressing well. He explained that Fragile X kids tend to be very flexible and along with Jimmo's Hypotonia, this attributes to his delays. Either the top or bottom half of their bodies tend to be flexible and we happen to be the bottom. Hence why our child at 3 years old can still put both feet entirely back behind his head. So although his gait and walk is improving, it explains why it's such a struggle for him. We also talked about my family lineage. I've been working with Emory University and their Fragile X study to provide free testing to my mom's entire family. I'm tracking this so we can be aware of how this syndrome has affected our family and for future family members. The doctor was excited to see the results as this helps him with his research as well. And this gives me a chance to use my geek skills and make an org chart.

It was time for one last break as all the doctors met and discussed the different areas they tested and discussed with us. It was perfect timing because our little guy definitely needed a nap. We took a drive in the car as he slept for thirty minutes. The panel meeting was very helpful. We'll get a full written report in about a month that details everything. The short and skinny.....They felt that his current school program and therapy amount is about perfect and to conquer on. This is a big relief because I often toss and turn over what is enough. And they said that when comparing among other Fragile X children, Jimmo rates above average with behavior but still below average cognitively. This was good news in our eyes, because the behavior issues can be pretty severe with Fragile X. Jimmo is Jimmo and we love every little morsel no matter what rate he learns at...especially with those great kisses he gives.

We'll go back again in a year and they agreed to not complete the standardized testing. It has proven twice as not very successful so we'll try again when he's older. This also means only 1/2 day visit versus 2 days so that's a big relief. In the middle of this two day visit, I happened to have a woman's retreat. That worked out quite nice to have time with girlfriends and quiet time to reflect on everything I'm thankful for this year.

And one last thing.......TWO more days till Spring - my daffodils are peeping! Thanks for listening, reading, praying and loving us!

Let the Race Begin

Last Sunday we completed our first (of hopefully many) Family Race. Momma loves to run and has been coaxing the family. We found a race called the Chocolate Mile. Who can't run a mile for chocolate? Well it was a hit with the family and we're already searching for our next quest - a 5K.

Quickly Valentine's weekend ascended on us. We had some friends over on Friday to make special presents for Daddy. He loved them and can't wait to display his new frame at work. 3 out of 4 of us are down with colds, so we had to stay low for the weekend. We got a little stir crazy on Saturday so we decided to pack some tissues and head over to a Smithsonian we've been wanting to visit near Dulles - National Air and Space Museum. Princess declared this week she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up.

And we think Jimmo's favorite part was the clear open space to run. However he also had a bit of fascination with the Enterprise space shuttle.
Princess got a little tired of looking at aircraft after about an hour, but a milkshake at McDonald's sure made this outing top notch.