pumpkin station

pumpkin station with the adventos and olegarios. kids rode the train, boats, and went down the slide.

they also played games and got inflatable toys. m&m got some big guitars which they have been wanting for a while.

group picture attempts:

 

tough day for the boy

just last week, i told micah's allergist that he was possibly growing out of his asthma and his primary doctor wanted him to stop all his meds.

well, yesterday his coughing got worse and his breathing became faster. at 4 this morning, i decided it was time to go to the ER.

it was his first visit to the ER for asthma, we usually make it to urgent care. when the lady at the registration desk asked micah how he was doing, he said,"i'm good." too funny, made me look like a paranoid mom bringing her kid in for no apparent reason.

but when they took his vitals and his oxygen level was a little low at 93%, they took him back right away and gave him 3 breathing treatments and steroids. he's always a good patient. he watched tv during treatment.

we got home almost 3 hours later and slept.

then it was time for his allergy appt, for testing. he got poked 40 times in his back to test for food and airborne allergies. he did great for the first 30. it was the last 10 that were really tough because she really scraped it in his skin.

he wanted me to take a picture so he could see what was going on. poor thing, you can see his tear going down his cheek.

he had to sit like that for 20 minutes for any reactions. he was biting his shirt because he wanted to scratch. go figure, i couldn't get good reception on my phone to pull up some videos.

this was after 20 minutes.

i hate food allergies. he is allergic to tree nuts, the biggest is cashews. he's also allergic to fish and shellfish.

my poor babe. it's kind of a blessing in disguise that he's such a picky eater.

the boss

micah: daddy, are you the boss?

roel: no, mama is the boss.

micah: i think you should be the boss.

roel: why?

micah: because you get madder at me.

roel was laughing when he told me about that conversation with micah. the label of 'the boss' in our family came up when malia was being bossy with some of her friends. we were trying to teach her that it wasn't polite to be bossy. we were trying to explain to her that she was not in charge, therefore not the boss of everyone, hence the word 'bossy.' somehow the conversation turned, and the idea of who is in charge of our family became the question. who is the boss? we told the kids that the parents are always in charge of their kids. of course, they always have their own opinions.

sometimes when malia is telling micah what to do, micah will turn to her and say, "your not the boss!"

get yer pirate booty (donuts)

got an email that krispy kreme was giving out free donuts to those dressed like pirates. since we had some pirate gear and the kids love krispy kreme, thought it would be fun to have them participate.

they each received a half dozen glazed donuts for free. we love the word free.

happy kids loading up with sugar

honor roll

i don't expect malia to get on the honor roll all the time. roel does because he knows she's capable of it. i know she's capable of anything, but school is so different now. too much homework, too much testing.

but she likes it. she loves school, loves her teacher, loves to read. she just finished a 500+ page book and really enjoyed it.

so yes, she got honor roll this morning for this quarter. just like she's been doing every quarter since the 2nd grade. so proud of her, especially because she is proud of her own accomplishment.

let the holidays begin

went to vons after CCD and all the pumpkins were out. m&m love the little ones. so right when they saw it both of them kept asking,"can we buy a pumpkin, please mom?"

it took micah 5 seconds to choose his. and it took malia, what seemed like 5 minutes, to choose hers.

and suddenly it hit me. that overwhelming feeling that the holidays are pretty much here. i have to focus and plan ahead, to avoid being the usual panicked procrastinator. love the pumpkin pics though :).

pho

i don't know if i've blogged about pho before. we love pho!

went to eat at our favorite pho place by southwestern college after picking up roel from the charger game. good pho and great smoothies at this place.

malia likes to get her pho with fish balls & fish cakes. she's the only one who will eat that.

micah gets tofu. and look at him using chopsticks for the first time! he ate the whole bowl with chopsticks.



 

i usually share with micah. and roel gets some kind of meat of course. this time we tried a blueberry shake. yummy!

labor day

doesn't matter what holiday it is, it equals a celebration of some sort to malia. i told her labor meant work, and since they gave us the day off, it meant that we were supposed to work at home, which was another way of saying to clean. i said it all with a smile on my face. she just had the biggest look of disappointment on her face.

roel laughed and then told her and micah to clean up their room and then we would go to seaport village for lunch. she rejoiced!

it was pretty crowded at seaport. luckily we have a small car and were able to fit in a small spot right when we got there.

took a stroll, then got some wetzel's pretzels, and sat on a bench in front of the ducks.

this is them "sharing" a lemonade. micah didn't want lia to drink at the same time. so if you look closer, you can tell he's giving her some angry eyes. of course here's me, laughing and taking a picture.

 

they are getting along in this one. micah is quacking at the ducks. i always love the pictures from behind.

 



after this they wanted to tumble in the grass area and watch the kites, then we headed home for more "labor."

gifted

at the end of 3rd grade, we found out that malia made it into the GATE program, which would start in 4th grade.

i had no idea what the GATE program entailed, i went to private school. so i was excited to learn about it at the parent meeting today.

GATE stands for Gifted And Talented Education. they showed us this:

 

malia would be in the GATE program until the end of elementary. she is so excited about it, and i am excited for her. she will be doing advanced art, outdoor biology/science, and community service.

i guess i'm neither bright nor gifted because i had to think about it for a while. every parent thinks of their child as both bright and gifted. and she had to go through tests and score 95% or higher and get recommendations from teachers to qualify. so they're telling me she's just gifted? i don't know if i like this categorizing my child idea.

and then i found this on one of the websites they mentioned:

How do I know if my child is gifted?
Compared to their age peers, gifted children usually learn at a faster pace, use a large vocabulary, ask many questions, and need activities that are complex and challenging. They may also be highly sensitive, creative, and intense. These are only some of the characteristics of a gifted child.

Why is raising a gifted child so challenging?
Gifted children often exhibit unique social and emotional needs that may include a strong sense of justice, extreme idealism, moral intensity, perfectionism, hypersensitivity, and unreasonably high expectations for themselves and others. They can be emotionally hypersensitive, such as to criticism, and/or physically hypersensitive, such as to touch and smell. Some may appear to be perpetual motion machines, or show wide swings in mood and maturity. Their vast emotional range can make them appear contradictory – aggressive and timid, mature and immature, arrogant and compassionate – depending on the situation. They may push the limits of rules at home and school, challenge their parents and teachers with constant questioning and engage in risky behavior. The discrepancies between their physical, emotional, and intellectual development make parenting and teaching gifted children especially challenging. You may benefit from joining a support group for parents of gifted children as a way to meet others who share your concerns; if there are no groups in your area, consider starting one of your own.

and it all became clear. she is all that, and thank you CA Association for the Gifted for acknowledging that she is challenging to raise, thank you! but sorry, i can't join a support group at this time, but i do have some friends with gifted children. does that count?

malia turned to me with a smile at the meeting and said,"i'm gifted." i told her that i would wrap her up all the time since she's gifted. she rolled her eyes and laughed. (yes, put me in the crazy category.)

bright or not bright, gifted or not gifted, she's just my baby girl.

split date night

malia and i went to our first Padre game at Petco Park. it was last minute. joe couldn't make it with jos, so she asked us if we wanted her extra tickets.

so we had a mother-daughter outing, me & lia and jos & joelle. kinda funny, just the girls going to the baseball game. and jos & i were never really into baseball. but it was filipino night at the Padre game, so a bunch of friends were there as well.

we had nosebleed seats, but the kids had a blast. we got to see a home run, not from the Padres, but it was still exciting. we walked around and ate gelato, then called it a night.

*
while lia & i were at the Padre game, roel & micah had their own outing. they went for dinner and ice cream. and micah fed the coi fish.

everyone had a good time. maybe we'll all go to a Padre game together in the future.