Read To Me

Josie  2007

There are many things that I wish I could do better as a mother, but I'm not going to focus on those here.  There are plenty of pages filled with such ramblings in my personal journal.  In this post, I'm going to focus on something that I'm good at--exposing my children to books and reading.

I love to read and so it has always been something I enjoyed doing with my children.  All those months I spent pregnant with not enough energy to entertain the kids in any other way, we would grab a pile of books and get cozy in my bed together.  OK...I do that even when I'm not pregnant, and I would choose to do it even if I had enough energy to whip through the whole house like a cleaning machine.  In fact, one of my best memories of reading in my bed was one of my non-pregnant days when I had set aside a Sunday afternoon to read Fablehaven to the two older boys.  When I closed the book, insisting that I had to at least make dinner, Evan said,  "Nooo... this is better than food."

Still, I must confess to running the other way when my children grab certain books for me to read to them.  There are a lot of picture books out there that make me feel like my brains are going to ooze out my ears if I have to read them one more time.  Those books will remain nameless as I am choosing to follow the wise advise of Thumper's father:  " If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."

I like to mark especially good picture books that I read in my goodreads.com account, so I can remember to pick them up at the library every so often.  A fact which caused Kimball to accuse me once of "cheating."  Until that conversation, I had no idea we were competing to see who had the most books listed on goodreads.  Has anyone else noticed that kids can make a competition out of anything?

But, I digress.  I started writing this with the intention of making a list of 25 Picture Books Everyone Should Read.  I got the idea because I've run into many such lists over the years, and when I saw another the other day I began wondering what I would put on my list.  I ended up with 30 books because I just couldn't help it.  And, I changed the name because who am I to tell everyone what to read?  These are books that make my face light up when I see them as part of the Story Time line-up at the library.  (Yes, I still like to be read to and take my kids to story time partly for that reason.)

Some of these are books that adults would enjoy even if they didn't have a small person around to listen.  If you don't believe me ask my kids grandparents.  There are certain books they look forward to when coming to my house to babysit, and even talk about every so often when they aren't babysitting.


So, without further ado:

30 Picture Books That Rock

1. Quick As A Cricket by Audrey Wood (Don Wood is the    illustrator and his pictures are amazing!)
2. My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza 
3. Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
4. Dinosaur Roar by Paul Stickland
5. Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
6. Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss (Did you know that when you look this up at the library you have to look under 'G' for Geisel as in Theodor Seuss Geisel?)
7. Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
8. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes 
9. There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Meyer
10. Hug by Jez Alborough
11. Come Along, Daisy by Jane Simmons
12. Big Dog Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
13. How Will We Get to the Beach? by Brigitte Luciani
14. Inside the House that is Haunted by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
15. We'll Paint the Octopus Red by S.A. Bodeen
16. So Many Bunnies by Rick Walton
17. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Marin Jr.
18. Snowmen at Night by Caralyn and Mark Buehner
19. If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo by Mary Jean Hendrick
20. Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
21. My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman
22. The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend
23. If You See A Kitten by John Butler
24. Ten Minutes til Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann
25. Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley
26. Off We Go! by Jane Yolen
27. Look Once, Look Twice by Janet Perry Marshall
28. If You Were Born A Kitten by Marion Dane Bauer
29. Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton
30. On Noah's Ark by Jan Brett

I made a rule for myself while complying this list (because that's what I do--I make rules and lists):  Only one book could be listed per author.  If this hadn't been the rule, half the list would have been gone with my favorites from Audrey Wood, Mercer Meyer, Dr. Seuss, and Sandra Boynton.  It almost killed me not to put The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear on the list.  (Yes, I know I'm sneaking it in, but technically I stuck to my rule.)

I hope this makes you think of some of your favorites.  Feel free to share them with me anyway you can.  Comment, email, facebook, call....

I have one friend that whenever I see him, he starts into a list of good books he's read lately before he even says 'hi.'  I love it!  Maybe in the future that will be how I begin all my interactions.  Instead of "Hi, how are you?"  I'll say, "Hey, have you read any good books lately?"

Oddly Grateful

June 2003

Mat and I went on a date to the movies last night.  Walking in, we began laughing at the time we went to see X-Men United (or X2) and I kept getting up and going to the bathroom.  Although I was very pregnant with my third child and Mat knew all about how the baby rests on the bladder, he finally leaned over and asked me what was up.  I responded that I felt like I was going into labor and was feeling restless.  Later that day, I felt slightly annoyed that I had missed so much of the movie when all the contractions went away and I was still uncomfortably pregnant.  After all, I had two other children.  I knew what actual labor felt like, and I was not one to mistake the signs.  If anything, I was the mom who liked to hang out at home as long as I possibly could before sounding the alarm that the baby was coming.  This cycle of experiencing more than the normal Braxton Hicks contractions and being convinced I was in labor repeated itself a few other times as the due date neared and passed.  My third child, it seemed to me, could not make up his mind.

As Mat paid for our movie tickets, yesterday, I started thinking about the fact that had I actually gone into labor that day, Isaac would have been born premature.  This may have contributed to him experiencing more health complications than he experienced by being born with Down syndrome which caused plenty of issues to present themselves.

Standing in the movie line, I suddenly felt grateful that Isaac's legs had been tangled in the umbilical cord, stopping labor from progressing that day, and beyond, allowing him extra time in utero to develop and grow.  Even after his due date passed and they induced me, my labor would not progress past what could be forced by the drugs they gave me because he was held firmly in place and could not drop into the birth canal.  He eventually had to be taken by emergency C-section.  It felt like a very odd thing to be grateful for.

That night, as I mulled over those thoughts, I realized that my new insightful gratitude could partly be attributed to the book that I just finished reading.  365 Thank Yous by John Kralik was a great book about a man who, when he hit a low point in his life, got it into his head to write 365 thank-you notes in one year.  As the project progressed, his circumstances and attitude about life improved tremendously.  It is a true story and a great one.  It is one of those books that I would recommend to anyone. 

I love this quote from it:

"Whether or not my life had changed, my experience of it, moment by moment, had been transformed.  When bad things happened, they might slow me, but they no longer unraveled me."

My experience also brought to mind another one of those books, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  In it Corrie and her sister Betsie are prisoners in a concentration camp when Betsie states that she can find things to be grateful for even in their pitiable situation.  When her list of things she is grateful for ends with "fleas,"  Corrie feels her sister has gone too far.  However, later she discovered that it was the fleas that infested their barracks that kept the guards out and allowed them more freedom within those walls than anywhere else in the camp.  This book is also an account written about true events.  

When I remembered that story, I no longer felt strange in my gratitude.  I suddenly found it odd that it had taken me so long to feel grateful for the tangle of legs and cord that extended Isaac's time in the womb, giving him those precious extra weeks to prepare to take on the world.

Mission Accomplished...Sort of

Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch--October 2008

Last week, Kimball was telling us how a few of his classmates at school have randomly come up to him this year and said, "You have such a cute little brother.  I remember in elementary school when your mom brought him into class and he showed us some sign language.  That was so cool."

I smiled and was about to say, "How neat."  When Mat spoke up with, "Well, that was the whole point wasn't it?"  And suddenly I remembered that, yes, that had been the point.

It's amazing how fast your mind can fly through past memories.  In one small moment I remembered being new in Loveland and sitting by the Chilson Center pool with a one-year-old Isaac in my lap as Kimball had his swim lesson.  A little girl, I would say she was around 10 years old, came up to me and asked me about Isaac's glasses.  People often took interest in such a little guy in glasses and asked me the same thing she did, "How did they know he needed glasses?"

My answer was the same as always, "Well, because he has Down syndrome, it's part of the regular check-ups he needs.  So, they found out he need them when he was around 8 months old."

"Oh," she said, nodding her head.

It was then that I realized that she, and many other kids, may not know what Down syndrome is. So, I asked her if she did.  She shook her head, and I told her a little about Down syndrome and Isaac.

"Down syndrome is something he was born with.  It's not something you can get after your born.  It means that Isaac will need some extra help with learning things and will learn things later than other kids who don't have it...like walking and talking.  But, he knows a little sign language."

The girl smiled and said that Isaac was very cute and went happily on her way.  It was then that I wished that Isaac and I could let more kids know about Down syndrome and what it means.  Because then they wouldn't be nervous around people with Down syndrome as they got older.

I remembered how I started taking Isaac into Kimball and Evan's classrooms each year.  The kids always had fun with him and he with them.  I always told the kids, "He can understand a lot more than he can say, so don't be nervous to come up and talk to him.  If you don't know what to say, just give him a high five.  He loves to high five!"

I began to see how all those kids went out of their way to talk to Isaac whenever they saw him and was excited that Isaac could feel so welcomed at school.  I slowly forgot that I was hoping there would be a lasting impression that would color their view of people with Down syndrome beyond their years in elementary school.

At the end of my moment of remembering, I smiled because I felt a little sense of accomplishment.  I felt happy that those kids still have memories of Isaac and they have one person to think of when they hear the words:  Down syndrome.  I thought about how, even though Isaac is with them everyday, the children in his class learned a lot about what Down syndrome means when I spoke with them a month ago.  I even thought the words:  Mission Accomplished...And then, I realized I that I haven't taken Isaac to visit Evan's classroom this year.  And, I haven't quite gotten around to speaking to the children in the Primary at church either.  I'm glad Kimball reminded me why I stared the visits and that it's about more than just helping Isaac to fit in. 

It All Started with Donner...

This Valentine card to Isaac features the name he now likes to be called:  Isaac-Rudolph-Viking-Smallish Bear.

It is getting cumbersome, but it started out innocently enough.  He wanted to be called Rudolph, which made sense because he'd been calling his dad "Donner" for weeks.  (Just in case, some of you aren't aware, Donner is Rudolph's father in the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie that they've shown on TV every year since I can remember.)

He began referring to Mat as Donner shortly after Christmas.  I could tell it was different than his run of the mill pretending game because he called him "Donner" at all times and when I'd call him "Dad" he would swiftly correct me.  Always.

I waited for Isaac to get bored of it, but instead he began calling himself "Rudolph" and me "Dancer."  Then, Josie was labeled "Prancer", Kimball "Comet" and Evan, much to his chagrin, was dubbed "Santa Claus."

He refers to us using these new names often, but he sticks to none as staunchly as "Donner."  I'm truly beginning to wonder if Mat will ever get to be called "Dad" by him again.

During this renaming period, I visited Isaac's classroom at school to talk to them about what Down syndrome is and what it is not.  Ever since Kimball was in first grade, I've visited the boys' classrooms at school and read the book We'll Paint the Octopus Red and answered questions about Isaac and Down syndrome.

This year, it got kind of rowdy because Isaac was insisting I call him Rudolph and when I told his classmates that he has been renaming everyone in the family, they all wanted reindeer names too.  Luckily, he is a connoisseur of reindeer books so we had more to chose from than just the Night Before Christmas variety.

Soon after this, we put his How to Train a Dragon comforter on his bed and he began playing with those toys and calling himself a Rudolph-Viking.  I was dubbed "Viking Princess" for reasons I'm unaware of, other than the fact that I do help layout the plans of where we will hide and where we will attack when the Monstrous Nightmare dragons come.  Oddly, Wilma, our miniature dachshund, is the only other family member involved in this batch of names.  She is, of course, a dragon.

The "Smallish Bear" part of his name he has taken from Disney's Brother Bear.  This older movie revived in our house when Mat and I went on a date a few weeks ago and left Kimball and Evan in charge.  (Can I just say that having a kid of legal babysitting age in the house is the coolest thing ever?  Although what "Donner" says is true--now that he can babysit, it seems that he's gone more than he is home.)

If you have persevered through this rambling blog I'd like to give you a reward:  Come to our house on any given Saturday morning and you will see Isaac tip-toeing around warning you not to wake up Donner.  You'll then know that Mat is trying to catch some sleep, and you can reply, "O.K., Isaac-Rudolph-Viking-Smallish Bear."

For your trouble, you will receive a wondrous gift:  a brilliant smile from a seven-year-old boy and a brand new friend.

My Brave Girl

Josie broke her leg on August 11, 2010 while jumping on the trampoline with her older brothers.

Dr. Chamberlain used a metal plate and five screws to hold the pieces of her tibia together.

She had 3 casts, a walking boot, and a soft splint before she could walk unaided.

The Pink Cast

The Purple Cast

The Robo-Cast

Quite the Collection

October 25, 2010

She didn't let it slow her down too much.  And she is now good friends with Ben the Cast Man.

At Orthopedic Center of the Rockies for cast removal

Waiting for the steri strips to fall off was an unexpected trauma.  Josie hated "the tape" and cried often during the two weeks it took to come off.

One of the hardest things for me was knowing that she had a 2nd surgery looming.  The doctor said she had to get the plate removed once she had gained her strength and range of motion back.

She worked hard.  She went to PT twice a week and progressed quickly.  Just before the surgery, her PT began worrying about the strength of the intrinsic muscles in her foot, but she assured me Josie was still in a good position to undergo the surgery.

Josie felt back to her regular self and was already begging to jump on the trampoline again.

Notice her scar.  It's lookin' pretty good.

Crazy kid!

I didn't want Josie to feel the anxiety I was feeling so I decided not to tell her about the upcoming surgery until the morning I had to take her in.  As the day grew closer, I began questioning my decision.

I was feeling stressed and guilty about keeping it from her so I began a few family discussions on all the surgeries we've had.   We talked about how they put the mask on your face to help you go to sleep and how you don't feel anything.  Still, a few days before the surgery, I tried to bring it up.  I stopped when she began crying a little.

When the day of the surgery dawned, I was more nervous about how Josie would take the news than for the actual surgery.  I was prepared though...I had presents.

Isaac thought we were having a birthday party.

I had the gift in my hand as I said, "Josie--Dr. Chamberlain is a good doctor isn't he?"  She agreed so I pressed on, "He did a great job fixing your leg and now he says it's time to take the metal plate out.  We need to do it today, so I got you a gift to help you be brave."  

Her eyes stayed fastened on the pink present in my hands.  It was working!  She pulled out the Care Bears and I explained each one, "Braveheart Lion will help you to be brave for the surgery and Good Luck Bear will remind you that all will be well."

That's when Poppa Gary arrived to help Mat give her a priesthood blessing.  The blessing truly did assure that all would be well.

Grandma Cindy came with him and brought more presents which served their purpose in distracting her the one time she hid her face in the couch and looked like she might lose her composure.

She got into the van without reluctance despite the fact that the morning air was freezing and it was still dark.  As I helped her buckle in, I reminded her that I still had a big blue present waiting.  I told her that if she felt scared, she need to picture that present in her mind and know that it was waiting for her.  

I am a firm believer in distraction when trying to control ones thoughts or emotions.  I learned while potty training Isaac that if you can just think of something else for a split second besides how scared, mad, or frustrated you are, you can usually get a hold of yourself. (I would just like to say that I got all the Care Bears that were contained in the pink and blue presents from my stash of old toys in the basement.  I keep them around for times like this.)

I couldn't believe how well she took everything that morning.  She was a perfect patient as they prepared her for surgery and sincerely seemed unafraid.

When I showed Josie this picture she said, "I'm a muffin!"

The surgery went well.  We arrived at 6:20am and were discharged from the surgery center at 9am.  Josie's recovery nurse was counting her tears because she was so impressed that they were falling without any wailing accompanying them.  She counted five tears and declared Josie the best child she'd ever taken care of.  I must admit I counted a few more tears, but chose to believe her kind words about how well Josie was handling her pain.

Josie felt much better after she got settled at home.  She asked for the blue present right away.

Dr. Chamberlain gave us the hardware that had helped Josie's leg heal.  The kids all thought that was "way cool."

The plate is much smaller than I imagined.

Dr. Chamberlain also bandaged the legs of both of the Care Bears that accompanied her into surgery.  This is the same doctor who I thought was rather stiff when he worked with Kimball's broken elbow.  I think it's safe to say that he has a soft spot for Josie.

I'm sure Josie and the Care Bears will feel better before long.

Dr. Chamberlain did one other incredibly awesome thing.  He helped me understand how to care for her in a way that I've never understood even though my kids have had lots of broken bones and surgeries.  He explained to me that what we are battling for the next week or two is the swelling.  If fluid gets into the holes in her leg and remains, it will slow the healing process.  So her leg needs to be kept up with ice on it and she needs regular Motrin regardless of pain.  I have always based everything on the how much pain the child is experiencing.  It makes a huge difference for me to understand this.

I feel so relieved knowing that this time as she makes progress, she is truly working toward full health.  I hope to use this recovery time to teach her to read some BOB books and to get her into the pool so all her big and little muscles can get strong.  Dr. Chamberlain has urged me to have her swimming everyday if possible.  I watched her progress with PT last time and allowed myself to ignore that one piece of advice.  Seeing some problems develop with her foot and ankle have strengthened my resolve to find the time.

I hope our whole family can help her through this recovery and we can keep our spirits up while focusing on the fact that we can now see the light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel.

The New Schedule

 
Every fall, Air Traffic Controllers bid for what their schedule will be in the upcoming year.  This year Mat made a big switch.  He now works on "the other side of the week."

Beginning the first week of January, his days off changed from Wednesday/Thursday to Sunday/Monday.  However, he took the last spot on B-crew, so he now works "the mid."  Which means he leaves home at 6 o'clock on Friday morning and returns around 3pm, but then leaves again at 10pm and gets home at about 7am Saturday morning.

He hates mids.  We've avoided them like the plague for years, but he decided to switch so he could have Sundays off.  I am very happy he did!

For me it means that everyone in the house has the same weekend and it has changed my life!  I know that sounds dramatic, but it did.

I always used to spend Friday through Sunday having a weekend with the kids and trying to fit some sort of weekend fun for Mat on Wednesday and Thursday.  It made getting things done challenging.  Now, we have declared school nights as "No Screen Time" nights.  It is marvelous!  No more trying to fit in homework, therapy, dinner, baths, Scouts, etc. around all the movies and game time each child has earned.  (I have them do different things to earn gaming time to stop their brain cells from turning to mush.)  Now they can earn time and save it for Fridays and Saturdays.

I noticed changes in the children the first week.

I used to reward Isaac with Teen Titans after his homework was done, after a bath, etc., etc...Now, I think of other rewards like coloring pages of his favorite characters printed from the computer.  Isaac no longer cries to "watch something" whenever we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do.  He now cries, "I want to play!"  This is a huge change because he's had a hard time learning to play on his own. 

There is no more fighting over which show to watch or whose turn it is to pick the show.

The best part is that even on the weekends the kids aren't hooked to the screen because they've had so much fun with other pursuits throughout the week that they will walk away mid-show to do something else.

I'm getting lots more time with them for school work and teaching them how to better complete chores.  I usually have at least one helper while I fix dinner too.

One night we began making paper airplanes and played all night until we had around 25 planes and multiple contests.  And, I didn't have to talk anyone into it.  They just wandered over when I started folding.

 One night Isaac actually asked to go shovel the back porch.  (He usually hates the snow and cold weather, but I guess Evan and I had been making it look like fun.)  Then, Kimball and Josie went out front for a twilight snowball fight.

We also spent some time building a new cabinet for Isaac's most beloved toys and books so he can stop trying to sleep with everything in his bed.

Can you tell I'm loving this?

It's not like they did nothing but TV and video games before, but it was always such a struggle to pull their attention away, or keep it long enough to accomplish much.  My only problem now is that I'm already worried about what Mat will bid for 2012.  I know it's 11 months away, but I'm a worrier.  What can I say?

You like the mid now--right, honey?  It's invigorating to stay up all night, isn't it?  Maybe it's the quiet that you find so soothing...Wake up!  This post wasn't THAT long.

So Many Books. So Little Time.

I wrote this in 2009 when we had planned on our Family Stories topic being about hobbies.  We ended up writing about childhood games that year, but I still had this saved in the Family Stories file on the computer.  When I realized I hadn't written a single thing in my blog this month, I thought of this and decided I'd add it in with my other ramblings about life.

Books have meant a great deal to me since I was very young. I remember longing to learn how to read and following my mother around, toting a book, hoping to convince her to read it just one more time.  I spent much of the money I earned in my youth on books and a good deal of my free time reading them.  I not only love to read books, but I love how books smell and feel. I love how they look organized on shelves and desktops or in bins and baskets.

The first long conversation Mat and I shared was about books.  We have read many books together and to our kids. When we were dating, we read parts of The Book of Mormon together as he investigated the church.  When we were engaged, we read The Tao of Pooh snuggled up together between our college classes.  During one of those first lean years of marriage, Mat splurged and picked up a hardcover copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for a surprise family Christmas present, and we read it aloud together.  What warm feelings that memory brings!  Now, we have books in every room in our home.

When I was pregnant with Kimball, I excitedly signed up for The Children’s Book of the Month Club. I slowly began to build our library of children’s books before I even picked out a crib set.  Some of the first books I ordered were four Little Critter board books.  Whenever I see them, I think of Kimball pulling all the books down from the shelf in our living room in Aggie Village.  He would sit among them and “read.”  Each child, in turn, has pulled out whole bookshelves and explored the magic contained inside all different kinds of books.  Only Evan has pulled an actual bookshelf down on himself!

I have learned through the years that what I read has a strong impact on the way I feel and how I look at life.  I have learned to be wise about what I read, and I try to encourage the kids to choose good books.  I try to help them to find favorite authors and explore new genres.  We strive to read out of the scriptures as a family each day so we can bring the Spirit into our home.

I’m excited to see the growth our children make as they come to love different books, subjects, and authors.  And, I hope our family will continue to experience joy as we share our love of books.