I am now at WordPress

My new address is http://www.coltonandrew.wordpress.com/ .  Please come on over and let me know you made it!!

Blogger issues

  Since Blogger seems to be having so many issues lately, how do I change over to a new format like WordPress?  Is WordPress free?  What other good blogging sites are out there?

My computer got struck!!!

   Last night we had a wicked thunderstorm.  We definitely need the rain, but all at one time!!  It must have rained 3 inches in 20 minutes.  The power went off and I shut off everything.  Next thing I know I hear BOOM and it sounded like lightning hit the house.  I didn't see smoke though so I knew nothing was on fire.  We went over to Mom and Dad's and put Colton to bed there and we stayed there until 9:00 when our power finally came back on.  I went to check the computer this morning and NOTHING.  The modem is fried and so is the tower.  It will not power on at all.  The phone still works and the monitor and printer still work, but no go on the tower.  I will take it in tomorrow to see if anything can be salvaged off of it--mainly pictures and such.

     Our local radio station was advertising a contest to win a year's scholarship to http://www.theblakeschool.com.   I entered Colton and now apparently he is a finalist.  I am supposed to bring Colton in tomorrow and meet with the director and look around.  It would be a great opportunity, but it has cons as well.  The school is about 17 miles from Mom's house and I am not sure if he would go all day or just half a day.  Also I am not sure that he is ready to go to school all day at not quite three years old.  Another thing I thought of was that he would have to give up his spot at the school he is in now.  This scholarship is only for a year so next year, he would need to go somewhere else.  With his birthday in December, he would have to go to private school for kindergarten and first grade if we didn't hold him back until he was 5, almost 6, to start school.  Also I am not sure how he would do with such a structured atmosphere.  We will see how it goes tomorrow and even though we meet, he may not get chosen.

Is this working?

Are my blogs showing up?

Miami trip

The three on the balcony.

View from the balcony.

Me and the boy.

He would have been happy just to dig in the sand all day.

Playing in the waves with Grammy.

He thought it was great to get knocked over.

"Cheesing" for the camera.

Little man's footsteps.

Walking and talking along the beach.

He loves to smile for the camera.

Would have been better if I hadn't gotten my shadow.

Where did Colton's other half go?

A well deserved rest.

Some sort of sea life.  It was still alive.  I could feel the little spines moving when I held it so I threw it back out to sea.

All in all it was a great trip.  Colton was very good on the trip down and the trip back.  It took us about 5.5 hours to get down there.  He didn't even have to stop to go potty except for our normal stops.  He slept on the trundle bed on the floor.  He took his nap and went right to sleep at night.  Only problem was that he woke up too early in the mornings.  The first morning he woke up at 5:50 and said "Grammy done".  Thankfully he did lay back down, but most mornings he was up by 7:00.  We tried to keep him in the room and let him watch videos so he didn't wake everyone else up.  He loved going to the beach.  We didn't go to the pool much because they had a rule that you couldn't jump or splash (it was because of the old people) and Colton likes to jump off the side.

We leave tomorrow--

We will be off on our adventure tomorrow.  Today is going to dragggggggg so bad!!

Steve's brother went and picked their mom up and brought her up here last Saturday.  Steve took her back home yesterday.  She lives about 2.5 hours away.  As you may recall, he and his brother were raised in an abusive and alcohol fueled family.  I had been asking him for quite sometime now if he had any pictures from when they were little.  Just to compare because we have heard different "stories" about the boys.  His mom said that they were both HUGE babies, like over 10 pounds.  I tended not to believe her due to the fact that she was only 16 when Steve was born and she had no pre-natal care.  Well when he took her home, he finally got some photo albums and brought them back.  He was so cute when he was little!!!  And Landen, my nephew, looks EXACTLY like Jeff did when he was his age.  It almost looked like they could be twins.

I will post pictures of our Miami adventure when I get back next week.  Till then, have a great week!!!

Only two days---

   We leave for Miami in two days.  We plan on leaving and getting down to Orlando at about lunch time.  Hopefully Colton will just watch movies and read some books until lunch and the he will take a good nap.  We don't want to hit Miami at 5:00 so we have to leave here about 9:00.  It should take us about 7 hours to get there.

  I had to go to the post office today so I took off a little early before lunch.  The last couple days when I tell he has school, he says "Momma up"  (as in momma come pick me up).  I always say "no Grammy picks you up.  Mommy is at work."  Well since I took off a little early, I went to pick him up and surprise him.  They had just gotten back from the playground and picnic at the park and he was in the bathroom.  When he came back out to line up, one of the helpers said "Colton's mommy is here to pick him up."  His head spun around and he saw me and came running down the hall and said "Momma up" and I said "yep I surprised you and picked you up."  When we got back to Grammy's house, we went across the street to see the neighbors, who LOVE Colton, and he even told them "Momma up."  It was cute!!

Good grief--

     I take Colton in this afternoon for the results of his bloodwork.  He was fever free yesterday, but now he does a cough--not really a wet cough, more of a dry cough.  He woke up about 12:00 this morning coughing and waited to see if he would settle back down.  He wasn't crying or calling out for, just coughing, and not a constant cough.  By about 12:30 he was still hacking so I went in to give him some honey syrup.  He took it and laid back down.  Every time he coughed, his binky would shoot out and he would grab it and put it back.  He coughed a couple more times and then he quieted right down.  I heard him again about 6:00 coughing again though.  I guess the honey syrup doesn't last longer than about 6 hours. I really don't want to give him regular cough syrup though.  I also REALLY don't want to be woken up at 6:00 tomorrow when we can actually sleep in a little.

      Last night he really wasn't hungry at dinnertime so he was playing with his food and trying to get attention.  He slung is food on the floor and I took him to go to time-out.  He protested and when I was trying to hold him, he tried to bite me--not hard but still put his teeth on me.  I popped his leg and he started crying.  Well we know what happens when he cries these days--out he went.  I laid him on his side and he had his little mini convulsions and went pale.  After about a minute, he came back around and started with his "momma hot".  I think it freaks him out when he passes out and then comes back to.  He was fine and went outside to play.  He wanted to go to look at our neighbor's fish pond so we walked over there.  Our neighbor was out and we were talking to him while Colton played in the sprinklers he had going.  He was running from one to another.  Well they were across the driveway from one another, the driveway being rocks.  Splat goes Colton across the rocks.  He gets up and starts crying and runs over to me, making no sound yet again.  He gets to where Tom and I are standing and down he goes--twitching and stiffening and looking like he is drying.  I lay him on his side and pat his back and stays out for a minute or two and slowly comes back around.  Tom has a freaked out look on his face and I say "he is fine.  Just give him a minute."  He comes back around and starts crying and wants me to hold him and longer wants to play in the sprinklers.  THIS IS TWICE IN 30 MINUTES.  I told Mom that she needs to warn his teacher at school that this is becoming more of a common occurrence and what to in case it happens.  I sure he grows out of this soon.

My poor boy---

     Yesterday was a repeat of the last couple afternoons--Colton was running a fever.  It seems so weird that he only has a fever in the evenings.  When I got him home, he was once again complaining that he was hot and I can tell just by touching him that is very warm.  I took his temperature and it was 103.  He didn't want to eat, not even his favorite ham, all he wanted to do was sit in his chair and watch a dump truck video.  He was VERY pathetic and can't cry and saying "momma hot".  After I ate and cleaned up the kitchen, I picked him and he was still burning up.  His temp was 102 and all he wanted was just to lay in my lap.  I sat down on the couch and he laid on me and was about to fall asleep at 6:30.  I took him in his room and he didn't a bath or even to read stories.  I put his PJs on, gave him some Advil and rocked him for about 5 minutes and he was sound asleep by 6:55.  I didn't hear a peep out of him until this morning.

   He had his 2.5 year old check up scheduled for this morning so I thought I would ask about it while we were in there.  I did notice that he had a rash on his chest and belly, but it looks more like a contact rash than anything else.  He had a little in his groin area as well.  I think it may have been from his diaper though.  I think I may have gotten his diaper too tight on him.  When his temp was taken at the doctor, it was only 98.9 and he was acting like his normal little self.  The ARNP was so concerned with his rash, but she was concerned with his fever.  She sent us over to the hospital for some bloodwork.  He was such a brave little guy. When they inserted the needle, he did start to cry but he held real still and his crying kinda tapered off.  The nurse doing the blood draw was really good with him.  She gave him a sticker and when she wrapped his arm, she drew a smiley face and wrote "good job" on his bandage.  There was a man outside in the waiting area and he gave him a dollar for being so brave!! LOL  We go back in on Friday afternoon to go over what the blood results are.  I am hoping it is nothing serious OF COURSE.  I just get concerned with the not knowing and all the "what it could be's".

Happy half birthday!!!

Today is Colton's half birthday.  He is officially two and a half now.  Hopefully this will be an important milestone in his little life.  Once again last night, he passed out.  This time in my arms though.  I had outgrown this by the time I was 2.5 so hopefully the same will be true for him.  We had just walked in the door and he was playing around and somehow tripped or something and hit his head against the side of the dry sink.  He immediately started doing his cry with no sound coming out.  I picked him up and tried blowing in his face to make him catch his breath, but to no avail--out he went.  He gets this really scary look on his little face and turns blue and has mini convulsions.  I just held him and talked to him and said "its ok.  Mommy has you."  After about a minute or so he starts to come around.  I think it scares him thought because he started crying again, normally this time.  I know that he will be fine and he will start breathing again, but it is still frightening to see your little boy blue and lifeless.  I worry about the effects of lack of oxygen has on his little developing brain.  He didn't break the skin or even have a bump on his head afterward and he is back to normal self about 10 to 15 minutes after all is said and done.

Man it is hot!!!

  It has unseasonably hot here the last couple weeks.  Yes we do live in Florida, but our highs are usually upper 80s at this time.  The last couple weeks, it has been upper 90s and the last couple days has been 99-100 with a heat index of 105-110.  We really need a tropical depression to form and come over us to give us the rain the desperately need.

   We leave next Thursday to drive down to Miami to see my sister and nieces.  They will be down from NY for 6 weeks staying in their condo.  I am looking forward to seeing them.  We haven't seen them since last July.  I am not looking forward to the drive itself.  I plan on taking many videos and many snacks.  Hopefully he will sleep part of the way down.  There is a pack and play as well as a trundle bed so hopefully one of those will do for him to sleep on or in.

   Friday evening after picking him up from Mom's house, he seemed to go down hill.  He kept saying "Momma hot" so I took his temperature and it was 101.  I gave him some Advil and he wanted to go right to bed--no bath and no stories.  He slept all night and actually I had to go in and wake him up at 8:15 because we were going to Jax to see my aunt.  He felt a little warm and didn't really want to eat much for breakfast, but his temp was only a little over 99 so I gave him some Tylenol and we went on to Jax.  He was fine all day.  He played with her dogs and went swimming and ate a good lunch.  One the way home, he took a bit of a nap and when he woke up, again he said "momma hot".  When we got home, I took his temperature and it was 102.  He was extremely clingy and just kept crying "momma hot".  He layed on the couch and when I sat back down he just layed in my lap.  I got him pizza for dinner, but he didn't want to eat it.  I took him in his room about 7:00 and gave him some Advil and he wanted to go right to bed.  He slept all night but woke up at 6:15.  He was his happy little self all day and then when he woke up from him afternoon nap, his temperature was back up to about 100.  It just seems to be an afternoon illness!!  I gave him some Tylenol and he was after that with no more fever and he ate his dinner and was back to normal.  I guess his body is just fighting off something.  He woke up fine this morning and went to school.

Colton's on the talent webpage now!!!

http://www.keziarolletalent.com/html/kidsboys.php

Pageant and Gatorland

                                            Chilling before getting ready.

                                               His "interview" shirt

                                           View from the 28th floor

                                              Showing me the fish

                                                   Looking very dapper!!

                                              Me and the boy--he of course was looking at the fish
                                                  

Back at home with his trophies.  He was Top Five, best smile, prettiest eyes, best personality and most Photogenic.  There were 23 2-4yr olds is his division.  The boy that won was almost 5 and was a definite pro.  The little boy that was runner-up was last years winner and he also won the national pageant for that age group.  All in all he did well.  He was a little more shy in his "interview" because he wanted to walk across the stage and all he had to do was go up to the judges.  Sleeping didn't go as well as I had hoped for.  I took his pea pod and he was all excited to sleep in it until bedtime.  I put him down and he started crying.  I unzipped it and said "you need to lay down and go to sleep".  I went out on the balcony and 2 minutes later he was crying again.  I went in and layed him back down and said I was just right around the corner (we set him up in the bathroom alcove).  He layed down and slept until about 6 and then woke up and he got in bed with me and went back to sleep.  He NEVER has slept in the bed with us.  The next night, he won't even lay down in his pea pod, so I caved in and put him in my bed and went back outside for him to fall asleep.  We stayed out there until about 8:30 and when we came back in, he woke up and was tossing and turning.  I went and got his pea pod and put it between our beds and he went in and went to sleep.  He is such a good sleeper and I hate to screw that up.  Last night, he went to bed and then about 8:15 he was crying out for me and I went in there and picked up his pillow and said "up" and I said "no sweetie you have to sleep in your bed" and he layed back down and went back to sleep.  We are going to Miami in two weeks to see my sister and he will have to sleep in a pack-n-play in our room.  Hopefully he will sleep and not have to many issues or want to get in bed with me.

Given his current obsessions with "dinos" we had to make a stop at Gatorland.  We had Saturday afternoon free was we headed over for Colton to see the "dinos" and of course he loved it.

                                            Looking cool at Gatorland

                                               The famous Gatorland entrance

                                               Interesting resting place

                                                 At the splash park

                                                 This bird is brave

                                               He was wanting this hotdog

                                              Posing on the big "dino"

Look at those teeth

Here we go---

     We leave tomorrow for Colton's State Finals "pageant."  I really hope he is going to be able to sleep in the hotel room.  Hopefully I can set up his pea pod in the bathroom and close the door so he has his own "little room".  He is so good about going to bed, but we don't want to go to bed at 7:30 every night!!!

  I bought him a new water slide pool and he has a blast last night playing in it.  Only problem is that it gets so dirty getting in and out of the water.  I think I need to put visquine down under it next time.

Wild Adventures yet again

Since we have season passes, we headed back to Wild Adventures yet again yesterday.  There was no chance of rain and a very sunny day was in the forecast.  Christina, Adam, Sohpie, Annabelle and Emma met us there.  Of course Colton had a great time riding the roller coasters.  He gets a smile on his face and it never leaves.  I taught him how to hold his hands up on the roller coaster and he was "weeee" the entire time. Of course I don't have many pictures.  Usually I am riding with him.

                                                                          Action shot

                                                                    Colton and Emma

                                                             Riding in the tiger with Sophie

                                        Me and Colton with the "baby dino" as he insists it is called

I just don't get it----

       As most of you know, I live in Florida and there is a high profile murder case in the process of jury selection.  That being the Caylee Anthony murder case.  I am sure you are familiar with the case--the one where her mother didn't report her missing for over a month and then claimed the "babysitter" took her, all the while she is out partying and living the life of a single 22 year old with no cares in the world.  Her mother was the one who started the police investigation and to whom Casey finally told that  Caylee was "missing."  Casey and Caylee lived in the house with the grandparents.  They had not seen her in OVER A MONTH.  Why in the world did it take so long for someone to notice?!?!?!  Of course as the investigation continued, Casey (who is a pathological liar) admitted to making up the entire babysitter.  So where had Caylee gone?  This happened in July of 2008 and Caylee's body was found in December 2008.  Now of course Casey parents are standing behind her and say she nothing to do with the murder---YEAH RIGHT!  I understand that they are her parents and you love your children and would protect them, but what about their granddaughter?  As I sit here, I don't think I could do that.  Of course I would still love my child, no doubt, but defend them?  I know she is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law (technically) but I just don't believe she is anything but a child murderer and should never be a free woman again. 

        What are your thoughts?  Am I totally out of line in my thinking?

Roller coaster riding--

We braved the chance of thunderstorms and headed to Wild Adventures on Saturday.  The sky was very threatening and then it did rain for about 45 minutes, but we ate and rested during that time and then the sun came out and it was a pretty day.  We rode rides and played at the water park that is attached.  Since we have season passes, I am sure we will be heading there quite a bit this summer and fall.  My camera battery, which I had just charged, died after one picture and one video.  I went and bought a new one at Wal-Mart so it won't happen again!!

The entire time we were at the park, Colton was just in undies.  I figured he might have an accident since bathrooms are not excatly close and if he had to go in the middle of a ride, we couldn't just get off.  We were on the Dizzy Dragons and right as the ride was about to start, he said "momma pee pee".  I said "we can't get off now.  Can you just hold it?"  Then the ride started and I think he forgot about it, but I took him straight to the potty and he went.  I think he has not had an accident, either pee or poop, in several months now ( I honestly can't remeber his last accident).  He still wears a pull-up at naptime and bedtime, but sometimes (especially naptime) he wakes up dry.

Happy Mother's Day--a day late!!

    Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day.  Mine was just like any other Sunday really--get up and make breakfast, go to church, play a little, go out for lunch, Colton takes his nap and then we go down to the river.  As much as I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN, I wish some days I could have a day to myself.  I would like to sleep past 6:30-7:00 (mostly this is due to Steve getting up though.  Colton usually wakes up between 7-7:30 on Saturday and Sunday).  I would love to sleep in until 9 or 9:30.  Steve can be in the computer room and Colton will wake up at 7:00 or so, and he doesn't go in there to get him.  So I drag myself out of bed and the day starts.

      Some funny things that Colton is doing lately

• He is really into going poop lately.  I think yesterday he must have gone 5 times.  And when he says he has to go, generally he really does.  He likes to go by himself though.  he will run by saying "poop" and go to the potty and close the door and go.  Then he hollers "HELP" and I go in and do clean up.  If I try and go with him, he says "No momma" and closes the door.
• When he does something good or eats something good, he will give you and thumbs up.  It is so cute.  He always gives a smile with his thumbs up too.

    We went to my neices' birthday party on Saturday and Colton had a great time.  They had a "redneck" slip-n-slide set up and a little baby pool with a small slide.  She also has a trampoline and Colton kept wanting to go "hop" on that.  There was a little girl who just turned two the 1st of May and Colton kept calling her "baby".  It was cute.  He and Landen got along well together.  They are about the same size now and Colton did well with his sharing.  He behaved pretty good for not having a nap at all that day.

Hump day

       Colton never showed any other signs of being ill.  After his "episode" on Monday morning, he has been back to normal.  His rash went away and he never got a fever or threw up anymore.  Must have just been some passing bug that upset his stomach.

       My niece, Kara, is having her birthday party on Saturday.  It is a slip-n-slide and pizza party.  It starts at 2:00, which of course is right in the middle of Colton's nap.  She said they would slip-n-sliding until about 3:00 and then eating pizza.  I know how much the boy like to be flung down the slip and slide, so I guess he may be skipping his nap.  I am sure he won't mind!!

Weekend not as planned--

     Started out on Friday night with a call from Kim saying that she was rescheduling the photoshoot for the 29th of May.  We will be in Orlando that weekend so I told her I couldn't do it then.  I was very disappointed because I really was excited about getting his pictures done again and I have finally figured out what he was going to wear!!

      When I went in on Saturday morning to get Colton up, there was vomit ALL OVER THE PLACE--it was on his sheets, on his pillow, on his stuffed animals and in his hair.  I never heard him call out to me during the night.  He was acting perfectly fine though.  I got him and cleaned him up and stripped his bed.  I noticed he had a weird rash on his chest though.  It wasn't anywhere else, just his upper torso and it wasn't itching him or anything.  It seemed to have little heads on the tiny bumps.  He didn't really eat anything for breakfast or lunch but was running around like he was feeling fine.  He took him nap and played outside and didn't really eat dinner either.

    Sunday morning he was fine as well.  The rash was slowly fading and he didn't have a fever.  He still wasn't very interested in eating.  We went to church and played outside most of the day.  For dinner all he ate was a few french fries and a couple shrimp.  This morning he woke up dry and when I was taking him to the potty he said he had to poop (which is uncharacteristic first thing in the morning) and he sat on the potty and went.  I got him dressed and was about to walk out the door and he said he had to poop again.  At first I thought he didn't really need to, he just wanted another treat to take to Grammy's.  I asked him, "you need to go poop again" and he said yes so I took him back in there and (TMI ALERT) it was like water pouring out it was so loose.  I kept him in his underwear but I sent along a pull-up to Grammy's just in case she wanted to put that on him for when he goes to school.

   Hopefully he is fine and something just got him stomach upset and now it has passed.

Week wrap-up

      For some reason all of my Easter pictures are on three different cameras--none of which I have with me now.  You can see them on my Facebook page though.  We did have a nice Easter weekend.  The weather was gorgeous.  The eggs hunts were all fun filled and Colton got more candy than he ever will eat, so I am helping him out in that department!!  We went to the river Sunday afternoon, which seems to be a weekly tradition now.  He loves to dig in the sand and play in the water.  He of course still has no fear so I make sure that I unload my phone, my keys and any thing else that I don't to get wet in the event that I have to go in after him.  I also love to people watch.  You really see a whole different group of people down there!!

      Colton had his speech evaluation with yet another therapist on Tuesday.  He has been "talking" more in the past week or so.  He has begun to repeat what you say and has added maybe 5 or 6 words just in the last week. The one in Gainesville that we went to several weeks ago was a really a waste of time on several levels.  She didn't really "talk" to Colton at all and just had a checklist and said he was at about 18 months in his speech.  This lady, Julie, was much better.  I am not sure if she was a doctor or not, but she was very knowledgeable.  She was young and seemed a little more with it.  I scheduled his appointment for the morning because after the disaster of last time, I wanted him "fresh".  She sat him in a highchair so that she could strap him and and it really worked out much better so that he couldn't run around.  She had a picture book and she went through various questions with him and asked him questions and really went into more depth.  After her evaluation, he scored at 2 yrs. 11 months for his reasoning skills and at 1 year 11 months for his expressive language.  So she concluded that he understands and can reason extremely well, but his language is a little behind where it should be.  She recommended not doing any therapy right now because he is really starting to mimic and gain words at a rapid rate here recently.  She said if I had any concerns or wanted to ask her anything in the coming weeks or months, to give a call and she will help me brainstorm or go over what we can do to help him along.

      Colton has another photoshoot tomorrow.  She is doing it at a local nursery and with all the plants flowering and blooming, we should get some really pretty shots.  Now the problem is, how should I dress him--casual or dressy?  I was thinking maybe a button down shirt with his plaid tie and a pair of khaki shorts.  It is REALLY hard to decide.

Wordless Wednesday--

Weekend wrap-up

His picture with the "Easter Bunny".  We had taken him to the mall after lunch on Saturday and they had a "real" Easter bunny there.  He went up and shook his hand, but did not want to sit in his lap.  I saw at Wal-Mart where you could take them and have their pictures made--I thought it was going to be a "real" bunny as well, but it wasn't.  It turned out all right and we got a really cute shot.

 Out for a Saturday drive before "picking up" the girls for the Easter egg hunt.

 Colton and his basket.

 Checking out the "purple people" before the hunt.

 I loved their baskets.

 Sophie and Colton ready to go.

 Colton showing Annabelle his balloon.

The girls hunting for eggs.

The Easter egg hunt went well.  The only problem was that they threw the eggs out in the field and for some reason, the ants attacked them.  There were fire ants crawling all over the eggs so every time they went to pick up an egg, ants got ants on them.  I tried and blow all the ants off before he put them in his basket, but I still had ants crawling all around.  After the hunt, we went with Christina, Adam and the girls to eat at Cracker Barrel.  That was fun!!

  Yesterday after church he had his picture made and after he got up from his nap, we went down to the river.  He wanted to go dig in the sand since he had gotten a new "digger".  Once we got there, he played in the sand a little while, but decided he wanted to play in the water more.  I hadn't put in a swimsuit, so I just took off his shirt and underwear and he played in his shorts.  At least that way when he was done, he had a dry shirt and underwear to wear home!!

I am behind on my blogging---

    Seems like forever since I have posted a new blog.  Not to much happening these days.  We are enjoying the great spring weather that sunny Florida offers.  Last weekend my niece and her friends were having a yard sale to benefit Japan's relief fund.  I decided to load Colton up in the his bike cart and ride over.  When we got there, I noticed that Landen and Colton were dressed almost alike!!

They both had on green and navy shirts and blue shorts.  I asked Landen if he wanted to go on a ride and when they were "loaded" up, they could have been twins.  Unfortunately our ride didn't last very long due to the fact Landen wanted to go back to his Mommy after about two seconds of riding!!  Being that they are only three weeks apart, I can see some similarities.  They seem to have the same little button nose.  It must be a dominant Rogers' gene because Steve and Jeff, and even Kara, have the same little nose.

    I have been trying to get his speech therapy going.  By the time everything gets worked out and scheduled, he won't need it any more.  He had his second "evaluation" (which was a complete waste of time--we waited almost an hour for the ARNP to come in and say ok, he can be referred to our therapist) and then they were going to forward it on to the therapist.  Well I hadn't heard anything as of two days ago and he had his appointment on the 31st of March.  I called and got the number to the therapist and come to find out that she had to send the referral back to the pediatrician because she doesn't accept our insurance.  I asked how much it would be without insurance and she said that she charges $80 a session and he is supposed to go once a week.  I called the the insurance company back to ask if there were any others in the area and there is one in Lake City now at the hospital.  SO I called the pediatrician back and asked them to fax his information over.  Hopefully I will hear something back from them.

   We have our first Easter egg hunt of the year tomorrow.  Emma, Annabelle and Sophie are going to go along as well.  I think he will have more fun if he has some "friends" there.  After church I will take him to Wal-Mart where they have free pictures with the Easter Bunny.  Hopefully he will not freak out at the bunny again this year!!

Regression---

     Colton has been regression in his potty training here lately.  For the last week or so, he has had at least an accident a day.   Previously it was VERY RARE that he would wet his pants.  This last week, he has had pee and poop accidents.  Normally he was pooping during his nap, but recently he has been going randomly throughout the day.  He knows that he has to go but it seems like he won't sit there long enough to go.  He will say "poop" and then run for the potty, but has not been making it.  On Monday we were outside playing and he said "poop" so I took him to the potty--nothing.  Five minutes later, "poop" so again we went and sat on the potty--nothing.  Two minutes later he runs by me, "poop" and he heads for the bathroom where he pooped in his pants on the way there.  The same thing had happened at school earlier in the day.  On the way home from Grammy's that day, he wet his pants.  This week has been AWFUL in the potty department.  Last night he wet his pants.  Today again he pooped in his pants.  He said "poop" and took off to the bathroom, but didn't make it.  Hopefully it is just a "phase" and he will get back on track.  I try and not get angry about it, but I certainly do get frustrated.  I don't really know what to say when he does it.  I don't want to chastise him, but I want him to know that it isn't acceptable.

      As far as the "big boy bed", it went much better than I ever thought it would.  I lay him down in the bed at about 7:30 and don't hear from him all night.  The other night he did "fall" out of bed, but I put him back in bed and he went right back to sleep.  I thought he would get up and wander around his room, but so far he hasn't.  Even on the weekends, he just wakes up and talks to himself but stays in bed.  I never thought it would be this easy!!

Speech appointment--

    Well, there was a good and bad outcome to his appointment.  The "good" news, if you will, was that I am not paranoid and he does in fact need speech therapy.  The evaluator said that he was at about an 18 month old level for speech.  The "bad" was that he acted like a crazy, wild, unruly child.  His appointment was at 3:00 and we had to drive an hour to get there, so we ate lunch and left and he was only to get about an hour nap instead of his usual 1.5-2 hour nap.  I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.  He wouldn't sit still or pay attention and he kept trying to throw the balls at her (there were toys in the room with us).  He wouldn't "talk" to her at all.  She said that he needed to be seen twice a week.  One, we live an hour away and there is no way that I want to drive that far twice a week with the price of gas right now.  Two, even with insurance it was going to be $20-30 a session.  I just can't afford that.  Yesterday I called his pediatrician and asked if they could recommend a therapist here.  I figured that even though Avmed only covered the one in Gainesville, it may cost less after I factored in gas and the time it would take to get down there.  They said that they actually have a therapist on staff through them!!  He has to be "referred" to her by the pediatrician, so he has an appointment for that tomorrow.  She may be in Lake City, but that is still closer than Gainesville and if she works through them, the insurance should cover it I would assume.

Weekend wrap-up

• The transition to "big boy" bed is going well.  Much better than I thought it would.  On Friday night, he started crying about 10:30 so I went in to see what was wrong, and he was standing by his bed.  I am not sure if he fell out of bed or got out of bed.  I layed him back down, gave him his binky and he went back to sleep and when I went in to get him, he was still in his bed.  I went on Saturday and bought one of those foam Noodle pool toys and cut it to the exact length of his mattress.  I put it under the sheet and made my own bed rail (the one that came with the toddler bed in maybe a foot long at best).  It seemed to work as kind of a bumper to help him stay in bed.

• Mom and I were out shopping for Colton some "play" shorts and shirts and summer PJs and we saw one of those Zorb balls that you get in and roll around.  It said ages 5+, but we got it anyway.  OH MY LORD it took FOREVER to blow it up.  You could use an air compressor.  You have to blow up individual panels by mouth and there was probably 25-30 that we had to blow up.  We finally got it done after about an hour and a half.  Of course Colton loved it and rolled around in it for a while.  I took some pictures of him playing in it.

• Since Colton can get out of bed now, I went and got some of the doorknob covers to keep him in his room and out of the bathroom.  Well on Friday evening, I went in to take a bath.  I closed the door behind me (like I also do) and I could hear Colton come in the room.  He tried to open the door, which of course he couldn't.  He started saying "mama" and was crying at the door.  His crying progressed and then it quit and I heard THUD.  I opened the door just about the same time Steve came in and Colton was lying on the floor COMPLETELY OUT COLD.  As you may (or may not) recall, wen he cries really hard sometimes he cries in so much that he passes out.  Normally I am right there within a matter of seconds to blow in his face and make him catch his breath.  Well this time I wasn't and down he went.  I scooped him up and his face was completely blue and his eyes were rolled back in his head.  Of course I knew that once he passed out, he would start breathing again and he would come back around.  It took maybe a minute and then his little eyes opened up and he looked at me and started whimpering so I knew he was fine. 

He has his evaluation with a speech therapist today.  I had him evaluated through EI, but their main focus is on motor skills and cognitive thinking and not so much speech.  Unfortunately the closet therapist is an hour away from us, but I want to know what they have to say.  If I have to take him once a week, then so be it.