back to school update...

Kaleb has had a great couple of weeks back at school. I think he actually likes going to school more than he did staying home all summer. He's got kids to play with and keep him entertained. I was a little worried about the nap situation, but it didn't even seem to phase him. He naps on a cot with his pillow and blanket (no blankie!) without a problem. They also give him his milk at lunch instead of just before nap and he took that change just as easy which makes it much easier for Mom and Dad. Ms. Maria says after they all lay down, Kaleb will always get up and come give her a hug and kiss and go lay right back down. If he wakes up before the others, she said he does really well just laying in his bed until time to get up. So that's good to hear.

Every evening we talk to Kaleb about school and ask him how it went and what he did, just to see him think about it. He'll usually say "eat", "Christian", or "Fanny". Well, on Monday he had to think about it really hard when we asked and all the sudden he said "Apple!" He was really excited about it, but followed that with something about "eat" of course, so we had no idea what he was talking about. Then on Friday, his teachers sent home his work for the week and he had made an apple at school! I showed him the work and he said "Red!" And it was...all of this week, they had worked on the color red!



Another story about this kids incredible memory...(or maybe we just really traumatized him) Last night we went to eat, ran to Babies R Us, and then had to make one last stop at Best Buy. Kaleb was getting fussy by this point, so I decided to stay with him in the car while Kevin ran in the store. The whole time Kevin was gone, Kaleb kept telling me "mama"... "crabs"... "git you"! He kept pointing out his window, but there was a car parked next to us, so I couldn't figure out what he was pointing at. This went on for a good five minutes over and over again. When Kevin got back to the car and started pulling out, I was telling him about Kaleb talking about the crabs. Right then, in the same parking lot was Red Lobster! The same restaurant where he freaked out about the crab on Kevin's plate. And from where we were parked at Best Buy, he could only see the back of the restaurant. We have only been there once, so I have no idea how he knew, but he definitely knew.


And one more story...what can i say...I'm proud of the boy! We went to clean out our storage building this morning and get the last of our things. Kaleb was playing in the garage while Kevin and I were unloading. From the car I heard him count....1....2.....3...4......5! Yea!

We just can't believe all the things he's learning! We're very proud and excited for him and can't wait to see what the future brings!

Back to School!

So today was our first day back to school after a short, but wonderful summer vacation. I took Kaleb to his school on Friday to meet his teachers and see his new classroom and have been talking about it with him all weekend. He has three teachers this year... Ms. Maria, Ms. Veronica, and Ms. Fanny. Since there is only one infant this year, Ms. Fanny is joining the toddler class with her one baby, so Kaleb is lucky to have her again. Ms. Laura has moved on to work with the school district, but Kaleb keeps asking for her too! Here we were about 6:30 this morning getting ready to walk out the door... He doesn't look too sure about this whole thing!

THEN...Mama made him sit down for a picture! This was a total fake cry!

See what I mean! No tears at all! All I said was, "Say cheese and I'll show you the camera!"

We got to school and Kaleb sat down to eat his breakfast...

Goofy boy! He held onto that chair next to him telling everyone that walked in it was for Christian! Christian was the last one there, and Kaleb still had that seat saved for him!

And one last picture with Mama before we part ways...

I think he did alright for the first day. Took an hour long nap (usually three hours), bit another kid (who touched his toy! how dare them!), and was in the playroom crying along with all the other babies when I came to pick him up, but he survived! And I can imagine it will only get better!

First Steps (round two)!

Last Wednesday Kaleb and I went to the beach with Nana, Aurora, and Joel. This is the only picture I have of the cousins and Kaleb's got his hand over his eye!
The kids had a great time digging in the sand, splashing in the water, and jumping over the waves.

After wearing ourselves out at the beach, we went to eat lunch... (ketchup...a new favorite... yummy!)

On Thursday I took Kaleb on his first visit to the dentist. We found a great pediatric dentist who worked very well with him. But the most exciting thing that happened there were Kaleb's first steps (round two)! We were in the waiting room and he was holding onto the chair I was sitting on, then he let go and took about five steps toward the toys! He started laughing and giggleing and screaming "Walk! Mama! Walk!" He was sooo proud of himself! Here is a video of the second time he took some steps there at the dentist...

CHEEEEZZZEEE!

Who me?

painting at the children's museum...

Toddler Fracture

I don't know why it took a whole week, three doctors, two x-ray sessions, and a visit to the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, but we finally have a diagnosis! Kaleb has what they call a toddler fracture in his leg. Basically how the Orthopedic doctor explained it to me was that toddler's bones are like clay in a sense. Instead of breaking or splitting, they just bend and deform, and that's what happened. He said the most common type of injury for this age group happens on the slide. He also explained to me why toddlers don't get sprains (very rarely it does happen, but not in our case). Apparently the muscles and ligaments are stronger than the bones at this age, so the bone will bend before a muscle will pull or tear. Soooo.... with the diagnosis comes the treatment, right? Nope, doctor said it would heal itself and we didn't need to do anything. His exact words were, "The leg will heal the same whether I put a cast on it or a band-aid on it!" The only reason he puts casts on any kids with this same injury is when the day-cares won't allow them back in school without protection. Kaleb will start school in two and a half weeks, but he should at least be walking by then. Doc said that typically, he should start walking 7-10 days after the injury, limp for a couple of days to a couple of weeks, and then be back to normal at 3-4 weeks out. We are now at 7 days out and Kaleb can stand up on his own and yesterday even limped a couple of steps while holding on to the wagon and ottomon. He's a tough and very strong-willed little boy, so even though you can tell it's still sore, but we're hopeful for a quick and full recovery very soon!

Kaleb's Foot/Leg Injury

Last Thursday morning while up in Granbury to visit baby Jaxon, we took Kaleb to the park in DeCordova to play on the playground. Everything was going great and Kaleb was having a blast, until.... Kaleb wanted to go down the slide on Mama's lap. We started to slide and Kaleb's left foot got caught between my leg and the slide and twisted back somehow. He started screaming! We held him and check him out for a couple of minutes and he wouldn't calm down. We took him back to the house to ice it down and figure out what we were going to do. He wouldn't bear any weight on it at all. After he sat on my lap for an hour, we decided that was not Kaleb at all and we needed to get him to a doctor. So we loaded up in the car to head to the urgent care clinic...
the foot... We went to an urgent care clinic and started signing in when the receptionist saw we had insurance and suggested we go next door to Dr. Lee who would take our insurance. It was a good move! Dr. Lee and his nurses loved Kaleb! Here he is in the room waiting to see the doctor...

It's crazy that at his age already, Kaleb can tell you how he got hurt!

So we saw the doctor, he examined Kaleb's foot, and he told us it was very unlikely a broken bone because there was no swelling or bruising. But just to be safe, we got some x-rays done. Here's Kaleb eating his lollipop from Dr. Lee while waiting to get the x-rays done.

and here it is... Nothing was found to be broken based on the films we had done.

So we got some lunch and headed home with a very grumpy, tired baby...

After his nap, Kaleb still would not bear any weight on his foot, so we had to find other ways to occupy his time...

Look at these two fishes! They had a blast! (Kaleb stayed off the slide)

So, figuring we were in the clear and Kaleb just had a sprain to recover from, Kevin and I went ahead on our trip to New Braunfels for the weekend. We figured it may be easier for Mimi to take care of Kaleb since she wouldn't have to chase him around everywhere! Well, Mr. Kaleb became very bossy! He will scream for you to pick him and just point in a direction he likes and yell "That way!" That's all day long. So although Mimi didn't have to chase him, she had to follow his orders and carry around this 30 pounder all day! Thanks Mimi for the weekend! So I headed back up to Granbury on Sunday night and we went out to eat at Babe's. Here he is (still not walking)...

Then Sunday night we took him to feed the ducks...

Dr. Lee had told us that if we didn't see improvement by Monday to follow up with our Pediatrician, Dr. M, so that's what we did. I called Monday morning to get some information and the Doctor said that she wanted to see him. We went in Monday afternoon and Dr. M was definitely concerned and said that not bearing weight on one leg for four days was very unusual. She suggested we get x-rays further up the leg to see if there was something we didn't catch on the first ones. So, we left there and went to get more x-rays! We're becoming pros at this already! Here's the leg... everything looks fine!

But everything is not fine. Kaleb has not walked in six days and if you know Kaleb at all, there's no way he could fake it this long! Every once in a while he will attempt to put some weight on it and you can just hear the pain in his cry. Dr. M finally called this evening and referred us to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon who we are going to see at 8am. We're relieved to see a specialist, scared not knowing what is going on, and upset about all the pain and frustration he's experiencing! I've googled and searched everywhere to see what others say, and a lot of what I read say that toddler fractures aren't often caught in x-rays until a couple of weeks later. Hopefully we will get some solid answers or at least some way to help him tomorrow!

Welcome Jaxon Kale Bernat!

Uncle Kasey and Aunt Katie are now the proud parents of little Jaxon who was born on Monday, July 20, 2009 at 12:33pm. He weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

You can see more pictures at http://kaseyandkatie.blogspot.com/ .

a little crabby...

This story actually begins a couple of weeks ago when we took Kaleb on his first crabbing trip down in Orange. I kept telling him about the crabs and that they pinch and showing him how the crabs pinch. He was scared to death of the first real crab he saw. Would have nothing to do with them. It actually surprised us since he's not scared of much at all. So, tonight we went out to eat at Red Lobster. Kevin got a seafood platter with lobster and crab. Kaleb wasn't paying much attention until I showed him the crab claw on Kevins plate. He freaked out!