Family Update

Nils

Nils has made excellent progress in quitting smoking. He hasn't smoked since his quit date of December 11th! That's over a month ago! Hurray! He is still waiting to here back regarding the technical supervisors position at work though. He has gone on his second interview which could be a positive sign! So we are continuing to cross our fingers that he will get it.

Shawna

Other than the obvious 27th birthday trip to Disney coming up, my mind has been swimming with the ideas of going back to school part time to earn my associates degree in business management. Nils and I both work for Comcast which offers a tuition reimbursement program which we are BOTH looking to take advantage of. Nils said we are going to have to see how much federal student aid we qualify for since it is doubtful we could afford to put us both through school. Today we met with the admissions administrator for Rasmussen College but I am thinking Edison State School (formerly known as Edison Community College) is more affordable for us. Even though Comcast reimburses up to a certain amount tuition per year, we still have to pay up front and the price per course hour is HUGELY different between Rasmussen and Edison. Everything is still up in the air right now but definitely on our minds.

Shaylee

Shaylee is doing awesome with the potty training- as long as she doesn't have anything on her bottom. As soon as she has a Pull-Up or training underwear on, its like she has forgotten the whole potty training concept. But we are taking it day by day, she understands what she needs to do and she'll figure out how to pull the pants on and off by herself soon enough. Her little potty training book fills up fast with stickers- more on the days she is home with us or at G.G's and less on days we are out and about since she is still having to wear Pull-Ups.

Kindermusik this semester has started off....well....chaotic. The class consist of all new students which many have very different personalities than Shaylee. There is one little boy that insists on throwing things, mainly wooden dowel like instruments which I just know are going to hit someone one of these days. I am a bit discourage on how his mother doesn't seem to step in enough. She also has another son that participates, a baby, so she tends to pay more attention to the younger baby and less on her toddler. LOL, there is a definite difference between boys and girls! Boys are so much more rough and tumble than the girls!

And there is a little girl, probably right around or just under Shaylee's age that is still learning how to share but seems to be having a hard time with it. Our past couple classes were especially tough as everything that Shaylee picked up to play with, that little girl would grab away. Shaylee in turn would do the same right back. This resulted in a few tussles and lots of tears. I understand where they are coming from- they are both strong willed little girls and I know that some of the reasons why Shaylee would hold on to something tightly without really playing with it, isn't to be spiteful or anything- she is just afraid that this little girl is going to tear her away from it again. Shaylee is usually very good with sharing things, surprising since she is an only child that does not attend daycare where she is around other children often enough to learn this. So she clung onto quite a few things in class today, unwilling to share either, afraid that if she didn't hold on tight to the instrument/ stuffed animal/whatever she would lose them.

Then there is a family of three children that has a infant boy and two young girls- one about Shaylee's age and one that is older. The older girl and Shaylee hit it off great but the girls like to run around the classroom which in turn has Shaylee wanting to join her friends and adding to the chaos. Not that this is bad or anything but when you have four or five children running around, they are not really paying attention to the instructor (God bless her, she has so much patience with them!) I am always on my toes in music class that's for sure! Not only looking out for Shaylee's well being but also making sure she is not causing harm or being mean to the others as well. But it is a new semester and I am sure that once these other families get into the groove on what is acceptable behavior (no throwing or running or hitting, etc) and the kids get to know each other better, things will get better. Shaylee loves the class and we love that she gets to be around other kids and music. And for that we will stick with it.

Cayman
Cayman has started the Dog Obedience Club of Lee County's Beginners course, a Christmas present from Nils to me and he is doing... okay. The problem I am having is he is the smallest (shortest too) dog in the class so many of the techniques the trainer is showing apply more to medium to large dogs, ones that's heads are even with your hand when it is down by your side. One of the hardest lessons to teach him is the "Halt". This is where, when at a heel, when you stop walking the dog is suppose to sit. He understands the sit command but only seems to follow it if you are directly in front of him. The Halt requires the handler (me) to be on the side, with him on my left. So we are struggling with that. Otherwise he is doing as well to be expected after only three classes. I know I need to start working with him more at home, but with my birthday trip coming up and everything else, it seems to be put aside which shows when we are in class.