Little man got braces

Isaiah is doing so much better in so many areas, that I really haven't had much to write about. He's mainstreamed for most of the day and only goes to Speech and one other "pull out" during the day. He's simply amazing.

Poor thing, his teeth have come in so crooked that the dentist recommended not waiting until he was older for braces. He would probably have to have several of his adult teeth pulled if they waited. So, off to the orthodontist he went.

Here, Isaiah is "posing" for me in front of the closet. You can kind of see his teeth.

 

In this picture, Isaiah is sporting his new braces, and a medal he won for the most improved player on his basketball team.

He's such a cutie... and he loves coming down to our house and spending time with his "crampa."

Christmas Presents and New Year's Eve

It's been a few months since I posted and it's mostly because I haven't had enough "fodder" for my blog. But... I have a couple of doozies for you today.

Christmas Presents...

Saturday (the 29th), I opened presents with Amy, Rex, Isaiah, and Anna. Isaiah was having a bit of a rough day and had a bit of "attitude" about things. Amy had to call him out on talking back to her and during her conversation with him, I had to leave the room.

Amy: Isaiah, you need to calm down. I'm tired of you being smart-mouthed. You need to quit being smart with me.
Isaiah: (obviously struggling to be calm) But... but.. but... I'm trying to tell you.
Amy: Take deep breaths, calm down, calm down.
Isaiah: (jerking his arms and really upset) But, I want to be smart! (crying in earnest) Don't you want me to be smart?

It's then that I knew if I didn't leave the room the whole thing was going to blow up. Even Amy had to hide a smile as she explained the difference between "smart mouthed" and "smart" to him.

Once he got himself under control, he was able to open his presents, which he really enjoyed. He's getting so big and he's a great big brother to Anna.

New Year's Eve...

I was invited down to spend the afternoon/evening and enjoy an evening of playing games. Amy had bought Clue, Phase 10, and Yahtzee. Amy, Isaiah, and I played a round of Clue while Rex was at the store. Amy and I had each figured out that "Plum" was the guilty character so that's the only one we were concentrating on. Isaiah's character was "Mustard" and after the game was over, he was upset because we didn't pick him. He wanted to draw Intrigue cards from the deck.

I told him the next game, I'd make sure that I picked him and that I hadn't this time because I knew that Mustard was not guilty.

Later, Isaiah set up the game again for us to play. Rex and I played while Amy took care of Anna. It didn't take us very long to figure out that "Mustard" was the guilty character (Isaiah had picked him again). After we finished the game, Rex said that he figured out (based on Isaiah's concerns the previous game) that the guilty character would be Mustard and all we had to figure out was "where" and with what weapon. Isaiah said he didn't stack the deck, but we think he at least made sure that Mustard was the guilty character.

I've been remiss

I haven't updated Isaiah's blog in quite some time. Isaiah has had his 9th birthday (where has time gone!), he's finished 2nd grade with flying colors (yay!), and turning into a fine young man. He's (mostly) a great big brother to Anna and she just adores him. He's also got a great sense of humor.

For example, Rex and Amy were having a "discussion" over something they had conflicting opinions on. Isaiah was playing in his room and heard them, so he went into the living room. He stood there and using his very expressive hands and facial expressions to help him talk, said "Ladies! Ladies! You're all beautiful!" Of course, that cracked everyone up.

Another time, Amy and Ron were discussing television programming and what was OK for him to watch. One show that Ron likes he turns off when Isaiah gets here. Amy doesn't let him watch it at home but she said he didn't necessarily need to change the channel because it was over Isaiah's head. Isaiah was sitting at the dining room table eating and he put his hands up over his head. As he was "feeling" around in the air space above his head he said, "No it's not. There's nothing above my head."

He also sings his own version of "Hush Little Baby" to Anna when she's fussy. He sings that "bubba's going to buy" instead of "mama's going to buy" her things. It's very cute to hear him and she quiets down. Last night he sung her to sleep. It's very cute.

Of course, he has his moments when he's not the best brother and he's not the best kid. But those are pretty few and he's always great at out house. He spent the night with us Friday night and said when he's an adult he hopes we're still alive. LOL... He said if Grandpa died, he would be sad because he's his best buddy.

Yesterday, Amy and I took the kids to the local arboretum for pictures. They morning was beautiful and the pictures turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites.

Various updates

I haven't had nearly enough "fodder" for my Isaiah updates lately.

He's being a very good big brother and does a really good job of sharing the limelight with Anna. He's had a few issues but he's had eight years of being an only child and when you go from that to having a baby sister in the house, it's a big adjustment for "normal" children. He loves his baby sister very much and is still very good about wanting to soothe her if she's fussy.

Anna's turned four months old on the 4th and is starting to become more active and interested in things around her. She loves it when Isaiah gets down on her level and talks to her.

Isaiah's doing very well in school this year and is learning how to do household chores to "earn" his TV and game time. He has an alarm and gets himself up every morning and ready for school. If he does this completely on his own, without reminders, he can earn 30 minutes of TV or game time. For each reminder, he loses 10 minutes.

Anna and Isaiah were baptized last month. Anna wore a beautiful gown that Amy's sister-in-law had given her. Isaiah was very spiffy looking in his suit, which is almost too small for him (he's grown so much!).

That's about it for my various updates. I'm sure I have more fodder for the blog somewhere but it will have to wait until another day.

Today is a special day...

Isaiah is officially Rex's son, complete with his new name... Isaiah Nicholas S.

What a great day!

Heart Beat

Ron's nurse was here today while Isaiah was visiting his "Crampa" after school. Charles (the nurse) asked Isaiah if he wanted to listen to his heart.

He put the stethoscope to his own heart and Isaiah was impressed.
He put the stethoscope to Crampa's heart and Isaiah said that was neat and he could hear it beating.
He asked if Isaiah would like to hear Maisey's heartbeat and he said, "Wow! It's fluttering it's so fast!"

Guess he was excited that Maisey's heart could flutter.

Merry Christmas!

Isaiah had a wonderful Christmas with his mom, dad, and baby sister, Anna. He got lots of great gifts and was (typically) very excited and thankful for his gifts. His other grandfather (my ex-husband) and his girlfriend sent him a really cool kite - Darth Vader's attack vehicle. It's really neat.

We got him a K-State hat (he LOVES K-State and wants to go there) and he left it on for most of the day. A lot of his things had to be put together and I'm glad he's got an engineer dad because I sure couldn't do it.

Isaiah had his Christmas program at school last week. We didn't get to go but Amy posted a video of it to Facebook and it was really cute. It was called Cowboy Christmas and they all dressed up as cowboys. Very, very cute. They had to buy him a cowboy hat for the show. He looks so cute!

We also went to see my mom last weekend. Glad to see her as she's been very ill this winter. Sadly, I don't think GG will be around that much longer so the time we spend with her and the pictures we get to take will be memories that we can all hold onto.

Mom thought Anna was beautiful (of course she is!) and told Rex how proud she was of him. He told Mom that he was thrilled to be a dad to Isaiah and Anna. It's wonderful to have him in the family!

Amy took some pictures of the kids to make into Christmas cards. She didn't order enough so I didn't get one, but that's OK. I get the real thing... LOL!

Isaiah is doing so well in school this year! He's only coming out for about 30 minutes each day and during his IEP, Amy and Rex were told that he'll probably not be pulled out at all next year. Although Isaiah has worked very, very hard this year, I give a lot of the credit to Rex being in his life. Ron and I could provide the love and attention that Isaiah needed, but we couldn't be the "DAD" that he needed. Rex has stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.

The official adoption date is 1/12/12! Isaiah will officially be Rex's son and a "shirts" just like his mom and Anna.  He's already using his new name at school but the court date is the 12th. The loser "father" has already called the court and Amy's lawyer saying that he doesn't have to pay child support any more. He's a weed... But, we're all glad that he's dropped off the face of the earth and doesn't want anything to do with anyone but his current wife and her seven (yes, 7) kids. They all call him "daddy" so that's fine by us. (He's got a FB page and doesn't even list that Isaiah exists - he lists his wife and "their" kids' names. No mention of Isaiah at all. In fact, in one piece of correspondence to Amy he asked her if she was sure Isaiah was his. Yeah... he doesn't look anything like him...)