Last Friday, Annika had the chance to meet two of her friends at Mall of America park to ride some rides and celebrate her birthday. We arrived there around 10 a.m. and we stayed until after 3 p.m. The kids had a blast riding all the different rides. My little daredevil was very disappointed when we left because she wasn't able to ride the "big" roller coaster. Jon was there and he did take her on the swings but he was not interested in trying to keep her safe on a rollercoaster. I think in some ways he was afraid that she would get upset on the ride and he didn't want that. She wouldn't though because she just loves it all.
Anyway, her present from her friend Noah was a Volcano cake at the Rainforest cafe. She loved it. She kept trying to blow out the sparkler that they had on the cake!!! Also just checking out all the different animations inside the cafe kept her busy. She hardly had time to eat her cake. Of course, Noah was glad to help her out and so none of the cake went to waste.
It was great being at the park and being able to just stand and watch the kids ride. The last time I was there we had to ride the rides with them because they were too small to ride without a chaperone. Now Annika would tell me to that she wanted to "ride all by herself". Denise, Noah's mom, was going to ride along on the merry go round but Annika told her that she couldn't do that. She needed to go stand and watch. Where did my little girl go?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Annika's birthday and anniversary of her implants
Well, my little princess is now 7 years old. I can't believe it. What's even more amazing is that she has had her implants for 5 years now. We actually had her birthday party yesterday on her CI anniversary date. She has been on a virtual high since her birthday on Friday.
She had me write a note to the teachers (I had to write an excuse slip for one of her brothers) and she dictated to me what to write. It said "Annika is bringing cupcakes to school today for her birthday. Please give her a high five for her birthday today." I sent it and everyone got a laugh from it. It was special as Allen and I both dropped her off for school on her birthday so we were able to say goodbye to her on her birthday in her classroom. She had therapy sessions in the afternoon at the local hospital and from the session that I observed she did not get much accomplished. She was just too excited to do any work. Oh to be young again and excited for her birthday.
She had her birthday party yesterday and she had a blast. She had a house full of company and let's just say that the "queen" was holding her court. She helped me put together her treat bags to send home with the kids. She made each bag special for each child. It was neat to watch her.
Now I am sending her to school today. Hopefully things will settle down and she can get back to normal and settle down. She has had a bad couple of weeks because of illness and seizure activity so we are hoping that this week will be better for her. We know that she is definitely feeling better. We just have to wait to hear from the school audiologist to see if the fluid behind her ears settles down or we will have to take her back to see the ENT.
Hope you had a great 7th birtday Annika!!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Wrestling is almost over
Annika went to see her big brother, Marcus, wrestle for the last time last night. She brought a poster cheering on her brothers (I will get a picture posted later) to the match last night. Too bad the boys' team lost and because Marcus is only an alternate on varsity he will not be wrestling at the individual tournament. So his senior year ends now. We are so proud of Marcus and all that he has done with wrestling over the past 11 years.
Annika has been fighting off a bad sinus infection over the past week. She started with a cold over 2 weeks ago but it never went away. Well, the next thing we know Annika has impetigo from the cold and then was diagnosed with a bad sinus infection. Unfortunately it didn't end there, she didn't handle the antibiotic she was put on so she spent at least one day with stomach cramps and all that goes with that. Thankfully we were able to change the medication quickly so by Thursday this week she started to turn the corner and feel better.
Also this week she went for her bi annual audiology appointment. All went well and there was a little fine tuning that needed to be done. The bad news was that there was fluid behind the ear on the left side-not surprising since she was fighting the sinus infection. We will have to keep an eye on this and if that doesn't resolve it will be another trip back to the ENT. We haven't seen him for over a year so lets hope that we don't have to see him now. No offense to him but we would much rather not have to deal with her ears anymore.
Annika is very excited as her birthday is now less than a week away. I can't believe that she will be 7 years old in 6 days. She is growing up way too fast.
Annika has been fighting off a bad sinus infection over the past week. She started with a cold over 2 weeks ago but it never went away. Well, the next thing we know Annika has impetigo from the cold and then was diagnosed with a bad sinus infection. Unfortunately it didn't end there, she didn't handle the antibiotic she was put on so she spent at least one day with stomach cramps and all that goes with that. Thankfully we were able to change the medication quickly so by Thursday this week she started to turn the corner and feel better.
Also this week she went for her bi annual audiology appointment. All went well and there was a little fine tuning that needed to be done. The bad news was that there was fluid behind the ear on the left side-not surprising since she was fighting the sinus infection. We will have to keep an eye on this and if that doesn't resolve it will be another trip back to the ENT. We haven't seen him for over a year so lets hope that we don't have to see him now. No offense to him but we would much rather not have to deal with her ears anymore.
Annika is very excited as her birthday is now less than a week away. I can't believe that she will be 7 years old in 6 days. She is growing up way too fast.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Annika's cool car
No really that is not Annika's car but she thinks it is. Annika's PCA has a Ford Mustang Convertible and Annika loves to ride in it and go fast!! She will sit in the car and yell for Lisa to go faster!!!
Today I had to write down the news from her. This morning Annika was going over the list of kids and teachers that she will see for the day. She has a teacher whose name is Ms Fischer. All of a sudden Annika picked up her teddy bear that Mrs. Fisher (from Northern Voices) gave her and said "Fisher gave me this bear. The other Ms Fisher." She started to talk about how she went on rides with the other Fisher. I was just shocked. Annika received that bear from Fisher 4 years ago and we haven't talked about who gave it to her for such a long time. And yet out of the blue she starts talking about something that happened when she was 2 years old (almost 3 but still). It is just amazing at all the things that is in that little head of hers and yet we have no idea. Memory is always an issue for Annika so you can't even begin to know how proud I am of her today.
Of course then this little girl who just made my day this morning ended up having a bad day at school and was even told that she did not have appropriate behavior for a kindergartener. Of course the tears started to flow after that. School was just so shocked because they have never seen this side of Annika. Well, at least we know the honeymoon is over. It at least lasted 5 out of the 9 months of school!!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Finally a post
I was informed by Annika's brother today that I hadn't posted anything lately. He is great at reminding me that I need to get back to blogging!! Our house is a little crazy during wrestling season. On top of that Annika's annual IEP comes due at the beginning of February.
Let's see what stories can I tell about Annika lately. Hhmmm. I think the best one that I can think of is the one from last week and it goes to show you what a little trooper she is and how she is just as determined to make progress as the rest of us are. She has started back at doing weekly speech sessions at the local hospital. Last week when she showed up for her weekly session (mind you she had just spent a full day at school and I followed her schedule one day and I was tired after just 1/2 a day), the therapist asked her if she wanted to work or play. Annika looked at her and said, "I came here to work". Okay how many 6 year olds out there chose work over play. This goes to show how great of a job that all her teachers and therapists have done with her. She knows that she has "fun" even though she has to work. What a little trooper!!
I think we had some ups and downs when it came to her annual review but all in all there is some great things happening. Her actual articulation test showed that she did not make a years' worth of progress but when the SLP pulled it all apart there were parts that she erred on the test that was not typical for her. We also did the test right after Christmas break when I had noticed that she got a little sloppy on the articulation. Nothing major but enough that you could notice and then show less progress on a test. Otherwise all her progress looked very good. Concepts she is about right there with her peers (now understand that in this test we are comparing her with other kindergarteners so there is at least a year delay for her but this is who we expect her to keep up with).
Like I said it is wrestling season so Annika has been spending days supporting her brothers at tournaments. She was so cute on Saturday because she insisted that she give her brother, Daniel, a hug before their second match. At least he was still warming up with the team so we were able to bring her down to mat side and call him over. The boys are great with her and she is really going to miss them as they leave one by one now.
We just got back today from spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The boys had a wrestling match up near their home so we opted for a house versus a motel room for the weekend. It was better for Annika to be able to sleep in a bed that she was used to. Though Grandma found her up in the middle of the night one night-cleaning up the living room. She was sleeping in the living room so let's at least say that she was trying to clean up the place where she was sleeping. It makes me want to put a camera in her room to see what she does at home.
Well, I had better close for now as I need to get up for work tomorrow and the a.m. comes very soon.
Let's see what stories can I tell about Annika lately. Hhmmm. I think the best one that I can think of is the one from last week and it goes to show you what a little trooper she is and how she is just as determined to make progress as the rest of us are. She has started back at doing weekly speech sessions at the local hospital. Last week when she showed up for her weekly session (mind you she had just spent a full day at school and I followed her schedule one day and I was tired after just 1/2 a day), the therapist asked her if she wanted to work or play. Annika looked at her and said, "I came here to work". Okay how many 6 year olds out there chose work over play. This goes to show how great of a job that all her teachers and therapists have done with her. She knows that she has "fun" even though she has to work. What a little trooper!!
I think we had some ups and downs when it came to her annual review but all in all there is some great things happening. Her actual articulation test showed that she did not make a years' worth of progress but when the SLP pulled it all apart there were parts that she erred on the test that was not typical for her. We also did the test right after Christmas break when I had noticed that she got a little sloppy on the articulation. Nothing major but enough that you could notice and then show less progress on a test. Otherwise all her progress looked very good. Concepts she is about right there with her peers (now understand that in this test we are comparing her with other kindergarteners so there is at least a year delay for her but this is who we expect her to keep up with).
Like I said it is wrestling season so Annika has been spending days supporting her brothers at tournaments. She was so cute on Saturday because she insisted that she give her brother, Daniel, a hug before their second match. At least he was still warming up with the team so we were able to bring her down to mat side and call him over. The boys are great with her and she is really going to miss them as they leave one by one now.
We just got back today from spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The boys had a wrestling match up near their home so we opted for a house versus a motel room for the weekend. It was better for Annika to be able to sleep in a bed that she was used to. Though Grandma found her up in the middle of the night one night-cleaning up the living room. She was sleeping in the living room so let's at least say that she was trying to clean up the place where she was sleeping. It makes me want to put a camera in her room to see what she does at home.
Well, I had better close for now as I need to get up for work tomorrow and the a.m. comes very soon.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wow time just flies
I can't believe how fast time just flew by during Christmas. Lots of updates to write about but right now I am trying to post a video on this blog. Everytime I try I get an error. I will be working on this hopefully tonight and then get it posted if I have sucess. Stay tuned.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Dad turned 40
I forgot to say one of the funniest stories that happened this past week (or at least I think it is funny because it was Dad not Mom). Allen turned 40 on Friday. I don't know if the boys or who has been coaching Annika that turning 40 is old but when she was at her OT appointment on Friday she made her Dad a birthday card. It had a gingerbread man on the front so that was cute but when you opened it said, "Man are you old". She came up with this all on her own-at least at the appointment. What a kid!! So then when Allen came home from work and read the card, Annika proceeded to find little "gift" to bring to him and as she would give him the item she would say "Happy Birthday, old man". She would run away giggling as Dad pretended to look offended. It was way too cute to get upset over!!
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