Bomb Cyclone is Coming

 Batten down the hatches.  2 feet of snow is on the way.  Well maybe not.  Oy.  Weather patterns are so unpredictable....  Every few hours the weather predictions and forecasts are changing.  It seems like we will get snow, but I somehow doubt it's really going to be THAT bad.  Of course, snow is truly only useful when you find yourself at the top of a ski lift, but I digress... I do think it will be fun to witness Queso romping around in all the fresh powder.  She may be the most excited out of all of us.  I'll be sure to get a video or two of the pure puppy joy.  

There is enough snow predicted that Atticus's track meet in Providence, RI has been cancelled.  Not that I'm all that sad about not driving close to 2 hours each way even if the experience is good.   Alas, we still have New Haven, CT to look forward to.  

So... I sit here at the kitchen table trying to think of all the kazillion things there are to update you on.  I mean obviously you know about the world's fascination with Wordle.  It's amazing how quickly that website has gone viral!  Apparently many of us have been searching for a way to use our brains and stretch our vocabulary skills.  Even Atticus has gotten in on the trend - so it must be sort of cool if the teenager is doing it.  He thinks everything is a waste of time.  Like coats.  Total waste of time.  It's only 4 degrees before the wind chill.  He'll only be standing at the top of the hill waiting on the bus for "like a few minutes max"... so why in the world would he wear the new Columbia coat that I bought him after he insisted that last year's coat was too small?  How dare I ask these logical questions.  

Follow up post to come with actual results.  :)

Long Johns

Oh for the love of goodness.. what in the world will I do with Atticus?

I dropped the kids at school for their early morning club - Bagels and Board Games.

I went to school just after lunch to help out with the 3rd graders Halloween parties.

I collected Wren and went to the office to wait for Atticus at the end of the day.

He walked up carrying his backpack and wearing - no joke - his long johns and his jacket.  I laughed out loud.  I mean, what in the world was he doing?  Why was he wearing his underwear and no clothes?  Why was he wearing long johns in the first place under his clothes?  I tried explaining to him that what he was wearing was unacceptable but he totally didn't get it.  Just kept telling me that he was hot in school (no kidding dude - what were you thinking)!

Goofball.

Knock Knock.

Funny how feeling emotional makes me want to spew everything on paper.  Or virtual paper as the case may be.

Ugh.  Some things that aren't shareable are really getting under my skin at the moment and we're working on a resolution.  Hopefully it's water under the bridge soon and not even worth a mention.

In school news, the kids have begun the 2018-2019 school year.  This is Atticus's last year in elementary school which I can hardly believe!  How is it possible I'm the parent of a 10 year old?  I mean - wow, time flies when you're adulting.

We've begun the process of getting Atticus evaluated at school to see if there are other things we can do to help his learning.  He's a smart kid, but has difficulties getting this thoughts and knowledge out of his head.  I say he's more of a slow cooker kind of kid.  Things go in -- and they just need to stew about for a while before he's ready to discuss or give you an answer.  Nothing wrong with that, it's just how his brain works.  So, we're looking at different solutions and options that may help him learn to manage his expectations.

Atticus has also decided that he'd like to play the trumpet!  Oy!  He was playing the baritone in NY, but that wasn't an option here - so I'm currently researching where to rent/buy a trumpet.  Music class for him will be on Monday mornings at 7:30AM.  Oooof.  Although I suppose this will help prepare us for the 6:30AM bus once he's up in the middle school.

Wren was not thrilled with her teach assignment for 3rd grade.  From what I hear, the parents love her and the kids not so much.  She's strict.  Personally, I'm okay with that.  It's good for the kids to have guidelines and rules and structure!

Since Wren has also been complaining of being bored at school for the past year, we've opted to enroll her in a local after school program called Russian School of Math.  She claims to not enjoy math, but she's good at it and this will ensure that for at least 2 hours a week, she's not "bored" and "not learning anything".  The results from the students as they age is impressive.  Is it weird that I wish I'd had Russian Math as a kid?  I mean, I took math classes for easy A's at the University of Texas!  Math is awesome.

The after school programs are also starting back up with a vengeance.  Track, gymnastics, ninja classes, Hebrew School, chess -- and we're just getting started.  :)

Here's to another trip around the sun...

Here's to consistency and knowing that we're not changing schools...

Emotional Weekend

For me, parenting is not particularly enjoyable.  I know there are highs and lows - blah blah - and while it's not really acceptable to say out loud, it's been a tough journey for me.  I love my children to the moon and back, but at the end of the day, I still don't enjoy parenting.  I see all the Facebook posts about how someone's child was the bestest and most amazing thing that ever happened in their lives and I think, hmmm.... that's just not me.  I love my children, but I'm not all googly eyed when discussing being a mom.

But - I still am ferociously protective and want nothing but the best for my kids.  It's weird.  I should probably see a therapist to discuss further...

So, I found out that Atticus was purposefully NOT invited to one of his "friends" birthday parties last Friday night.  My heart was crushed.  Atticus considers this boy to be a friend.  Atticus would never think to not invite him to our parties!  The silver lining is that we were in Boston and couldn't have gone anyways -- but just knowing that he wasn't invited was a blow to the chest.  I may not enjoy parenting, but I still want to shield him from the cruelty of the world and mean kids.  I know we can't always invite everyone to our parties, it's not practical, it's not the real world, it's not always financially optional -- but to exclude someone on purpose hurts.  It hurts when you're 9.  It hurts when you're 40+.

But the weekend continued...

We drove back to NY so that Atticus could race on the 12th in a qualifier race.  To qualify, Atticus needed to be in the top 30 finishers (out of 107 runners) or his team needed to be in the top 5.  Neither of those things happened.  Atticus had a good time of 15:51 in his 3k which put him in 77th place out of the 107 runners.  Tailwind B Team of 9-10y Boys came in 10th overall.  Tailwind did absolutely amazing as a whole.  45 out of the 49 athletes competing on the 12th qualified for the meet this weekend in Rhode Island.  Which meant that 4 kids didn't make it.  How absolutely gut wrenching.  This travel meet in Rhode Island was going to be Atticus's last hoorah with Tailwind.  He was looking forward to the camaraderie much more than the actual race -- but we just assumed that Atticus would qualify!   And then he didn't.

News came today that one of the other 9-10y boys can't make it this weekend to the race which has opened up a spot for Atticus.  He's going to be over the moon excited when I tell him after school.  I don't really have the time to be jetting off to Rhode Island at the moment - but it would have been crushing to not go.  Atticus is looking forward to swimming in a crappy hotel pool.  To having a team dinner.  To sleeping at a hotel.  To racing with his friends...

So, here's a toast to being a good parent -- and to Rhode Island.  I've never been to Rhode Island.  I suppose we can check that off the bucket list now...

The Treat Fairy

They're seriously still falling for this stunt?  

The night of Halloween, the kids leave a bag of candy out for the "treat fairy".  The naughty fairy visits overnight, eats the candy often leaving a huge mess... and then she feels terrible and gives the children a gift in exchange for the candy she's eaten.  

This year, the treat fairy left Atticus the Toilet Trouble game.  A horrid game where you spin the roll of toilet paper, and then flush the handle and hope you don't get sprayed in the face with water.  

While I wasn't looking, Atticus decided to build the game all on his own.  Somewhere along this process the flusher stopped flushing.  Not that I was going to complain, but since I'd just spent $18 on the thing at Target -- I kind of wanted it to work!

So, after trying two different sets of new batteries, I figured the thing was defective and off to Target I went this morning to exchange the game.

Now that I'm over getting yelled at by the random angry dude on Boston Post Rd -- I'm going to try and set up the new game before continuing on with my day!  

Here's to a working toilet.  Oy vey.

Jump Jump!

This weekend, we went to a classmate's birthday party at Rockin Jump.

Wow.  Hot.  Sweaty.  Fun.

No pictures of blurry jumping children, but I did get some on the rockwall.  Atticus made it to the top to ring the bell!

Happy Birthday Atticus!

We opted not to throw Atticus a wild birthday party this year.  He's had two extravagant ones while in London and this year, we went more subdued.

That said, there was still plenty of fun starting with Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, a full day of camp, a tub of frozen yogurt, dinner with the family and of course presents!!!  Since there wasn't a big party - he instead got a LOT of big Lego!  I think it worked out well.

May your days be filled with sunshine and warmth.  May your smile bring comfort to those around you.  May your generous spirit never dampen.  You are inquisitive (still), a somewhat picky eater (what kid doesn't love cheeseburgers?), a lover of all things with wheels, sirens and buttons and your imagination continues to grow everyday.  I love your spunk, the freckles on your nose, the way you help others without being asked... I love you to the moon and back little man.

Tae Kwon Do

Atticus made the move this year to taekwondo.  He had taken some basics while in London, but this was our first time doing martial arts as a formal sport.  We have enjoyed learning from Master Cosmo and his staff at CMAC.

I think martial arts are the perfect outlet for him.  They provide consistency, discipline, exercise...

Yesterday, Atticus tested for his first color belt, orange.  The colors here are a bit different than what I recall from growing up - but perhaps its just a different faction of martial arts?  Eh... regardless, he tested and was promoted and all is good!

Doing some practice rounds before the test.

Breaking boards like a pro.

Here's Atticus with his friend Max just after the test.  Max has just tied on his yellow belt but Atticus hasn't tied on his orange yet... 

First Race

Tomorrow is Atticus's first proper school race.  He'll be running in the 400m event for Parkgate against another local school, Finton House.  There were 5 boys from Atticus's grade that were chosen to run with the "big kids" in their first official school race.

Let's just say he's a tad excited.  But -- he's totally keeping calm, cool and collected.  I think I may be a bit more nervous than him!  Of course, I'm going to watch (assuming of course I can find the fields) and I'll be sure to be the obnoxious parent taking a million photos and video.  I mean, come one -- it's his FIRST race.  I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many to come... but still, this will be the first for my little Usain.

Run Atticus Run!

First Sleepover!

With trepidation, we decided to allow Atticus to go on his first sleepover.  His friend, Edward, invited him for a sleepover after school on Friday.  While Greg and I were totally nervous that it would be a disaster - the fears were unfounded!  Yay!  All went smashingly well.  Granted, we know the parents fairly well -- and it's only down the street, but still!!!

After school, we came home and packed up his new backpack with everything he might need including Beetle and his little pillow.  We headed over to Edward's house and dropped him off... there were no tears, no long hugs - just a see you later Mummy.  I mean, geez -- he's not even 7!

This was a bit of a trial to see if we could go away for a weekend too and leave the kids with friends.  Apparently, Atticus did fiiiiiiine.  Not sure we're ready to try leaving Wren with someone else just yet!

Not that we're going away and leaving the kids with friends... but I suppose now it's possible.  Who knows where we'll end up living in the future.  Without family close by, we may need to rely on a sleepover of two in the future.

I guess the next step is to invite a friend over here!!

Recap of NY

Wow.  A week in a New York City hotel room with a 3 year old is challenging.  It has however made me realize how palatial our current house is... (and this house isn't even that 'big').  Kudos to the folks at the Times Square Fairfield Inn.  They truly were wonderful.  They were so nice to Atticus - saving cookies for him in the afternoon, bringing him breakfast in the morning, letting him play bellhop in the elevator by pushing buttons for everyone.  I have to say, it was probably one of my most pleasant hotel experiences in terms of dealing with staff.  Everyone was wonderful.

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Edited - I just found this draft from 2011!  Wow.

Atticus Turns 6

A fairly mellow day considering the chaos (and fun) of his birthday party!  Atticus wanted to go to Westfield Mall to visit the LEGO store to build a pack of three figures and to Five Guys for dinner.  Here are a few photos from in the garden, waiting for the tube and at dinner.  :)

Hard to believe this little man is 6 years old.  He has a heart of gold, a love for people and helping others and he's generally a really good kid.  I know I tease about locking him in the Tower of London on occasion, but for now -- I'll keep him.

Young Love

It seems the romance bug is making the rounds in the Baden house.  Atticus hasn't been immune either. He informed me that he "looooooves Jessica".  When prompted, he says that he still likes Esme, but he loooooooves Jessica.

A little bit of background information -

Esme is a little girl in his class.  A couple of weeks ago, instead of telling Esme that he liked her, Atticus decided to whack her on the nose with a wooden block.  Since that incident (where he fell to the 'yellow' list at school)... we've been working on giving compliments.  That seems to be working.  Atticus has done a fine job of telling his teachers and other students nice things.

Theo is in Atticus's class.  Theo has two older sisters, one of whom is Jessica.  Sigh... Jessica.  He looooooves Jessica.

I'll be back to fill you in as the love saga of my children continues!

Feed Me

In the 2.5 hours since I picked up Atticus from school, he has eaten:

1 package of Yo Yo Bears fruit roll ups
1 chocolate cake snack treat thing
1 bowl of pasta
2 helpings of peas
7 chicken nuggets
1 large carton of yogurt (adult sized, not kid)
1 string cheese
1 bowl of Weetabix cereal and milk (like shredded wheat)

Seriously... He's non stop! $10 says he asks for cashews after his shower!!

Head Injury

Well, it just wouldn't be my life without a trip to the Emergency Room for one of my children.  The day started out lovely... it was a bit overcast but the rain had just ended.  I packed up the kids and a towel and headed out to Fortune Street Park.  This is one of our favorites here in Islington.  I'm a fan of Giddy Up coffee and the kids love the play equipment -- it's a good mix.  To separate a few parts of the park there are these bright yellow spring loaded gates that are about 5 or 6 year old height.  They are great gates that close by themselves and include a gap so little fingers don't get pinched.

However, we did learn that if you run at full speed and push the gate open, it will spring back faster than a newly 5 year old can clear the opening.  I was pushing Wren in the swings when Atticus went running at full speed through one of the yellow gates.  It sprung back, whacking him in the head and sending him flat on his back.  My heart stopped.  In the 5 seconds it took me to run over to him a HUGE knot had formed on his head over his right eye.  I'm not lying when I say that I honestly thought it was going to burst and blood was going to spew everywhere.  It was nasty.  Thank goodness he didn't lose consciousness.  I looked around at the business folks that were eating and not a single one offered to help or came over to see if we were okay.  (I'm disappointed London locals....)

I threw the remains of our picnic lunch into a bag, plopped Atticus into the stroller, grabbed Wren from the swing and made a bee line to the coffee cart.  Thank goodness he had a bag of ice and was able to break off a hunk for us.  Using the hand towel that I'd brought with us - I wrapped up some ice and stuck it on Atti's head.  He was still screaming and sobbing poor guy.

As we started walking towards the apartment, I stopped a local mum and asked her what to do.  I honestly didn't know since we still don't have our private insurance cards and I wasn't sure if we were yet eligible for the nationalized health care!  Thank you, thank you to the mum for suggesting that I call 1-1-1 a new service here that allows you to talk to medical professionals for a non-emergency.  The guy on the other end walked me through a ton of questions and then based on my answers said that we didn't need to go immediately to the ER, but we should still be seen by a doctor.  They were able to locate the closest clinic for me and let them know we were on our way.

In the midst of all this, Greg was on the phone with HR both locally and in New York trying to sort out the insurance and authentications we needed.  Ahhhhhhh....

Now, I just had to walk just shy of a mile with a 3 year old and a 5 year old with a head injury with only one stroller that really is too small for the 5 year old.  GREAT!  Oh... and did I mention that due to all the commotion, Wren didn't get to nap so she was tired and cranky?

We headed out with the kids taking turns in the stroller.  We made it to the clinic where I wrote Atticus's name on a piece of paper with our address and was told to have a seat.  There were about 30 people already there at the clinic.  I was fearful that it was going to take a lifetime!!  (It only took about an hour...) I tried to occupy the kids and keep them relatively quiet while watching a bizarrely large electronic billboard that spit out names and what room you should go to.  Apparently HIPPA laws are a tad different here in the UK!

So... we finally were summoned to Room B where we were met by both a doctor (who looked like she'd just come from chasing kids at the park herself based on her clothes???) and a nurse.  Apparently they were expecting a gash or the need for sutures, because of the earlier call -- but yay -- we didn't need those.  The doctor asked me a couple more questions.  She looked at Atticus's eyes and then printed off a piece of paper that showed a list of things to watch for with head injuries and sent us on our way.  No joke, it took less than 3 minutes.  Granted... she did tell us that the threshold for any symptoms was very low and if we thought we needed the ambulance at any time over the next day -- to just call, but still -- that was it???  She left the room, the nurse printed the paper and said thanks we were free to go.

That was it.  Nothing else needed.  No sign here.  No insurance information.  No cash.  Nothing...

Weird.

-- It's now 4 days post-gate and Atticus has quite the bruise on his forehead and the beginnings of a black eye near his nose, but otherwise seems "normal".

From the Mouth of Kids...

I'd best write some of these down lest I forget...

Atticus: Mommy, can you do me a kindness?
Wren:  Mommy, are you doing Atticus a favorite?

Wren: I really like walking on the ballerina.  (balance beam)

I'll have to keep updating this list.  There were a few other gems recently that I'm sure I'll recall after I get some sleep!!

Giving Up Naps

Atticus is at a bit of a cross-roads.  He still sort of needs a nap.  If he doesn't nap - he turns into a bit of a monster by dinner time.  BUT, if he does nap - he has an impossible time falling asleep at night.  Case in point, tonight... it was 11 pm before he fell asleep.  He's going to have bags under his eyes tomorrow, and it may actually be a good thing there's no school!  So - if he wakes up completely tired, do I let him nap tomorrow? Or keep up the cranky kid and hope he goes to bed at 8 or 8:30 in spite of the expected storm.  Hmmmm....

Toddler Rashes

So, it seems we have our first welcome to NYC illness.  Atticus woke up about 4:30 am on Saturday morning running a fever.  Even with Motrin and Tylenol over the course of the day, it never really dropped below 100.  Boo.  (Even bigger boo was that he and his friend Liam were supposed to have a play date and Atticus was really peeved that we had to cancel!!!)  About 4:30 am on Sunday morning, Atticus came into get me again.  I wasn't surprised, I gave him a dose of Motrin before bed, but it's only good for 6-8 hours... When we woke up this morning, his eyes were kind of puffy and his face looked red, but only in certain areas.  His "T-Zone" if you will was red, but nothing else.  I was googling a bit as the morning wore on when we started noticing some rashes popping up on his legs.  I called the pediatrician who we were planning on using, but go figure - they don't accept new patients on the weekends.  So.... it was off to the urgent care for the little man and I.  After running a strep test (negative) and being assessed by two different doctors... the conclusion was "undiagnosed viral infection".  What?  Seriously?  We were told to watch it, continue with the Motrin and call/take him in if it got worse.  UGH.

The rash has gotten a bit worse and now it seems to be itching.  Poor little man.  He's running a fever, but he has the chills.  He can't figure out what in the world to wear to bed because he's both hot and cold... we put the tallest socks we could find on him to attempt to keep him from scratching his legs to death while he's sleeping.

So, apparently tomorrow is going to be a Mom/Son day.  We'll visit the new pediatrician hopefully, menu plan and do some grocery shopping, maybe get a library card, see if we can unpack some Thomas the Train toys... Atticus really wants to go ice skating too -- but I have a feeling that may have to wait.

For now, I'd best get to bed because I'm going to have a feverish little boy waking up in a few hours...

Overnight Thoughts

When I went to wake Atticus up this morning (I know - crazy enough, right?) the first thing he said to me -- no joke:

"Mommy, I don't think I'm going to have very much fun at Pops' Birthday Party."

Huh?  We've been talking a lot about birthdays lately due to all the parties and the kids have asked whose birthday is next.  They know that Pops' birthday is next -- but what a silly thing to have been thinking about right before he woke up!  I wonder what he thinks we'll do for Pops' birthday when we're in town?  :-)

Maybe we can take Pops out to the indoor trampoline place that my friend just told us about?  Check out Got Jump.  I seriously can not wait to take Atticus.  He's going to have so much fun!  Thanks CM for the recommendation!!

Disappointment.

Atticus was so excited about Eve's birthday party... right up until the moment it was cancelled.  SIGH.  The party was supposed to be today at an actual gymnasium.  With a trampoline.  And a balance beam.  And a PIT!  How dare the birthday girl choose this weekend to come down with the crud! 

He has asked if I can find someplace in New York that has a trampoline.  I suppose I'll add that to the to-do list, right after finding a pre-school.