Nathan's First Camping Trip!

This is my Happy Camper on his first camping trip.

We went with our friends Vickey and Gerald


We went to Robber's Cave State Park which is in Eastern Oklahoma. The weather was so beautiful!

Visiting the Nature Center and seeing the snakes

There were kitties on the roof of the Nature Center!




Doing pull-ups with Daddy




We slept in the van in sleeping bags with Nathan. That was the least favorite part of the trip since Nathan didn't quite understand. He wanted to go outside and play. He had to learn "It's dark outside". The minute the sun started peeking through the trees he sat up excitedly and yelled, "OUTSIDE!" Of course there were rocks and sticks everywhere to be thrown so he was in heaven.

Vickey has Shelties also. Her boys always go camping with them.
Starting off the day right around the campfire.





Off to Robber's Cave! This was a hideout for bandits back in the shoot-em-up days.




Nathan loved sliding down The Devil's Slide and getting dirty




Inside Robber's Cave








On top of the mountain at the overlook. Nathan did a great job of hiking! He was fearless so we had to hang on to him tightly.

Nathan's First Camping Trip Part 2

We drove up to Lady Wilhemia State Park in the mountains.







The highlight of the trip for Nathan was riding the little choo-choo train.




Stopping to feed the incarcerated deer.

No Baths For Anyone or Anything!

On the way home from our camping trip, we were not allowed to stop and wash the van.

School Daze

Nathan is doing well in school. He really enjoys it and I'm not sure what they do there but he comes home so exhausted he takes three hour naps. Go school!

Last night he brought me a toy letter and proudly announced "R" as he handed it to me. They are getting him to learn so much! He has been great about learning his numbers and shapes at home but not so much about learning letters so we find this very exciting.

His biggest thrill right now is riding the school bus which is a little thing that comes to the house. We know all the words to "The Wheels on the Bus" and that is his favorite song right now. I hear it in my sleep. It's so much fun to hear his little off-key voice singing along.

Everyone is healthy and happy hear. We are very blessed.

First Week Of School

I know that other parents are probably used to this but...I just bought $100 worth of mandatory school supplies for my three year old son. How is this possible???



We've been through quite an ordeal with getting Nathan to school. Two months ago when we received confirmation that Nathan would be accepted into Special Pre-K, we had to change daycares. His old daycare wasn't within school district limits so the school bus would not pick him up and the daycare wouldn't drop him off since it serviced Edmond schools. His new daycare drops off at the Deer Creek School district and said Deer Creek picks up there as well. It was a bit of a hassle since the daycare opens later in the morning and I had to hussle to drop off Nathan so I wouldn't be late for work.

Two days before school started, Deer Creek informed us that the daycare was NOT within the school district and they would not pick him up. The daycare does not have a bus that drops off preschoolers. We were stuck. In an incredible move that has still stunned us, the Deer Creek School district changed the entire hours that they do daycare to match the kindergarten kids so that Nathan could ride to school with the kindergarteners. This would have been great except...the daycare won't transport him because he is only three years old.

We were just about to the point where we had to pull Nathan out of preschool which we really didn't want to do because he has his speech therapy. So we pulled him out of daycare instead. At this point we are paying my Mom to keep him in the morning. He catches the bus from her house which, fortunately, is in the Deer Creek School District. I don't know how long this will work and we will likely have to find a babysitter come January if Ron is able to go to day shift. But at least it's working. Ron has to stay up with Nathan instead of sleeping but we are both happy to be able to keep him in PreK.



The good news is that Nathan is really enjoying his PreK. His teachers are really great and I think he is going to learn a lot from the school.
The SoonerStart had diagnosed him as 50% delayed in cognitive ability for his age. Ron and I tried not to laugh because we know that is ridiculous. He stubbornly refused to cooperate with the worker conducting the examination but it definitely wasn't because he couldn't comprehend. It's because he is a stubborn little mule! He's already exceeded many of the goal they set for him this year so they think he is super-smart...which he is!

I hope that he makes great strides in his speech this year. His therapist notes that he always leaves the first and last letters off of his words even if he can pronounce them. That's true.

Nathan stubbornly refused to speak until a few months ago and now he never stops! He is a wear-bear sometimes but we are so glad to hear him chattering on and trying to learn new words. He is still announcing the color and shape of everything everywhere we go.



Today I found Ron teaching Nathan new shapes. Nathan was trying to wrap his tongue around the words Isosceles and Trapezoid. [Insert Mommy rolling her eyes]

Present From Jack and Christine

Uncle Jack and Auntie Christine sent Nathan a birthday present. He was very happy with his present and has played with his cars for hours.

First Day of School

Nathan started his first day of Special Pre-K today! He came home so exhausted! Daddy got to drop him off and pick him up and he said he was really happy in his class and the teacher was pleased with how enthusiastic he is.





Nathan is still trying to figure how his backpack works.



My baby is getting so big!