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Grant Family Photos
Wow, mommy is looking forward to June, as May was action packed. Where does the time go? All I know is while I am perfectly happy chasing down Ryan's "
gagomen" (Lego men), mommy and daddy's heads are spinning!
Let's see, at the beginning of May our cousin, Brandon turned 3 so we went to a birthday party where we got to smash a pinata and fight over candy! Ryan finished spring soccer and took swim lessons through the YMCA. He did such a great job learning how to swim! I was a bit jealous and tried to join him a few times and for some reason mommy didn't like that. Finally daddy let me go into the pool at home with Ryan and wow, what fun that was! I didn't like the life jacket though, it made me flop over and that scared me, but I just love letting my legs hang over the edge of the pool and feeling my toes in the water and running around naked. Below is a little video of Ryan swimming.
Daddy went blind a few times (not really, but enough to head to the ER), and they said he had inner ear vertigo, but he seems to think it is either related to stress or something else like an alien taking over his body. Who knows, he went to get a physical just to make sure the aliens were gone, so stay tuned on that one!
Mommy and daddy visited Ryan's public school he is zoned for and took Ryan along and also visited a few private schools. Wow, coming from 2 people who NEVER thought they would EVER consider private school, they sure were impressed. They fell in love with one of the schools, everything about it would be great for Ryan, especially the methods of teaching...not your standard traditional teacher standing up front, dictating with the kids memorizing and regurgitating...this involves the children every step of the way and actually creates "thinkers". What a concept. Too bad all schools, both public and private don't teach this way, maybe then children would actually enjoy learning instead of feeling like they are in school just to pass a test or wishing it away so they can just get out. Too bad.
Anyway, Ryan had to go through some testing for the private school application process and actually had to take an official IQ test! Sure, I think he is a smarty pants, but come on I am his sister, but according to the results of the test, he is actually a real smarty pants. He scored a superior rating, ranking in the 95% of all 5 year
olds, meaning when comparing him to other 5 year
olds taking this test, only 5% scored better. They looked at all kinds of things like intellectual skills, verbal skills, nonverbal/performance skills, processing speed, etc...and sure he is only 5 so you can only read so much into it, but mom and dad were definitely proud to know their child is truly gifted. To me all it means is that mommy and daddy should
watch out, b/c Mr. smarty pants is going to pull lots of fast one's on them in the future! Way to go Ryan!!!
In the end, although Ryan was accepted to the dream school we decided to give the public school a fair shot, so in September he will be at
JB Fisher, the home of the "think flamingo"! Who knows maybe he can qualify for the free lunch program, wouldn't that be nice??!! Maybe not such a nice joke, but "I'm just
sayin"...Thinking positive, the school does have a good reputation, working on a new curriculum, with very good ratings, so we are hoping for the best...
In order to complete the school registration, Ryan had to go to the doctor for his 5 year check up. He got 5 shots, can you believe it, 5!!!! So glad that wasn't me...but he was a trooper none the less and even peed in a cup! We had quite a scare though, because in that pee they found some protein which I guess isn't a good thing, so had to do another test a few days later which unfortunately came back with the same results. The pediatrician felt this warranted further investigation, b/c protein in the urine could mean so many things, some not so good things so they sent him to a Pediatric
Nephrologist based out of
UVA to get to the bottom of it. Mommy and daddy took Ryan to a hotel in
Charlottesville the night before their big day of ultrasounds, x-rays and appointments and left me at home with
Ninnie.
After an exhausting day of poking and prodding the doctors seem to think it is all related to his constipation/bowel issues that he has been dealing with since infancy. The protein levels were low enough this time to let things be for now, so moving forward he has to go back on the
miralax daily until he is going "poo poo no" every day. If at his next regular doctor visit they still find higher than normal levels of protein, back to
UVA and the comfy hotel beds they go. Let's just hope that day never comes!
Needing a break after all of this stuff we headed down to the
Piankatank to spend time with our friends, Karen, Jamie and Baby Dylan and Ryan went on the jet ski and he also waterskiied ALL BY HIMSELF!!!! Daddy was so proud :)
Jumping ahead into June, Ryan just graduated from preschool, can you believe that? Wow, this month really is about Ryan...WHAT ABOUT
MEEEEE????? OH, sorry did I just say that out loud? The Goddard School did a big event at a hotel where the kids wore cap and gown, walked across stage to accept their diplomas and then sang a song and recited a poem. They also had a great slide show of all the kids over the years and including me, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room.
It is amazing how quickly the years go by and putting it in pictures helped put it into perspective for many.
5 years just went by in the blink of an eye, you better enjoy life now or you might miss it!
I must say I am happy I only have to worry about myself (and Ryan coming after me as I steal his toys), because mommy and daddy look really tired. Watch out folks, it's just beginning!
Until next time...Princess Kelsey and the rest of the Grant
Family
