cavities, braces, NFT & a holiday recap

Well, the holiday season has come and gone in a whirl wind of activity. David came up to Montana to visit with us for Christmas and New Year's. It was wonderful to see him and great to spend some time together. The kids went to Vegas via Pocatello and had a great time visiting family and friends (and getting spoiled rotten I am sure :). December and January have been quite busy so here are the highlights....

Neurofeedback Therapy (NFT)

Jamie completed his NF (Neurofeedback) testing the 2-3 week of December. We met with Dr Velin the first week of January and he basically verified that Jamie is very intelligent (95-98th percentile), his attention is normal for his age-but quite far below where it should be based on intelligence, his concentration(distractibility) is below average and a definite problem. He also stated that Jamie's brain gets fatigued quickly due to his irregular brain wave patterns (make it harder for him). He gave several good suggestion for helping Jamie in school and will have these written up and sent to me in a couple of weeks...so that I can take it to the school. He also felt that NFT would have an 80% chance of helping with his concentration/distractibility and brain fatigue, which will raise is over-all ability and function and decrease his irritability. Insurance may or may not cover it, but we felt it was the best avenue...so we started a 20-30 session NFT program. His first session was last weds. Starting this week he will be going 3xweek (MWF) in Missoula (across town- of course :) His first session was amazing! He has electrodes attached to his scalp and ear (the ear is to rule out artifacts caused by physical movement). He has to control a computer game with his brain alone-very cool. His brain wave patterns show up on the tech's computer screen. The screen showed 3 types of waves (they can very depending how he is hooked up). Jamie's brain was producing too many large delta (sleep waves) and too many large "high activity" waves intermittently...and not enough of the calm, focused waves. It was easy to see that his brain was very working ineffectively. No wonder the boy is exhausted after school and brain dead by his last class! The tech was very impressed with how quickly Jamie's brain was learning- a great sign!! If you'd like more detail then just give me a call :)

Braces

Jamie had a consult with Dr Olsen. He will be getting braces tomorrow morning (tuesday) on his top teeth. He will get braces on the bottom in a couple of months. He has had spacers between his teeth since friday to help make space for the bands around his back teeth. We have loaded up on yogurt, oatmeal, jello and soft foods so he can survive this transition :)

Cavities

We are all going to Dr Skilstead this week. Jamie received his cleaning and checkup mid december (to prep for braces). For the first time in many years, he has cavities!! SO, he went last week and today and got fillings. He also Finally got his baby silver tooth out. The tooth was wedged a bit,so it was difficult to remove, even though it has been loose for months. He finally used a pair of pliers and pulled it out himself!! Auri and I go to the dentist tomorrow...As we have the family teeth (very soft)...Thanks MOM :) I am sure we will have cavities, yet again :) Jan will be going in on Weds for his check up.

Happy New Year to all!

It's been an interesting year, and not always exactly the best of times. But overall, due to my bad memory and the fact that I'm in a good and optimistic mood, I think the past year was actually not too bad. I also feel like the next year will be even better!

Happy new year from Montana!
jan, sara, and the kids (and david).

Kizsie update

Well, it has been 1.5 mo since we learned of Kizsie's cancer. The tumor is now VERY visible on her left shoulder. It protrudes about the size of an orange from her front shoulder. In the x-rays we had taken previously, the tumor was below the shoulder in the humerus; so we know that it has taken over most of her upper leg and shoulder areas. We have increased her pain medicine and anti-inflammatories, but she is still limping heavily. She is having a much harder time getting around and tends to flop over when trying to lay down. She fell down the stairs this morning. I believe we are going to have to restrict her to one floor, as she is just not handling the stairs well and I don't want her to break her leg trying. She is still bright eyed, loving and happy. This is not an easy time, but I don't think she has much chance to make it to spring. At the rate she is declining, I will be surprised if she makes it to Valentine's Day.

Good bread!

After a few decades in the US (almost!), I've finally found some decent bread. Not that I've been trying out every bakery wherever I lived, but I finally made it to Le Petit Outre the other day, as they are supposed to have the best espresso in the region. And indeed their espresso is thick and rich. wow. But I also discovered that their bread is surprisingly good! Today I brought home a loaf of "German Rye" (now how could I possibly NOT buy that one!), and it's delicious. BooBoo's used to have some good bread, but I guess I hadn't realized how much I miss a good german loaf of bread.

Yum!

midterm grades

The halfway point for the 2nd quarter was 12/7/07. Here are the kid's midterm (halfway) grades:

Auri: Art - A-,
English (H)- A,
Health/PE- A,
Traffic Ed- P (pass/fail only),
History (H)- B,
Spanish 2 - B-,
Geometry - A,
Chemistry (H)- B

Auri's grades show a significant improvement, compared to last quarter's midterm grades!! Much closer to what we expect from her ;) I expect to see her Spanish grade go up and her History as well. Chemistry is quite a challenge as the teacher is using a college text book and teaching at a college level!


Jamie: Art- C,
English- D,
Health/PE- C,
Auto - F (missing assignments, low quiz scores),
Learning Lab- B-,
Science- D,
History- B-,
Pre-Algebra- D+

Jamie's Auto grade has just recently fallen and he is in the process of trying to get it up!! When asked about his Math grade, which dropped suddenly, he stated "it got hard." :) English has remained a challenge and the special ed teacher has recommended he be moved into a remedial class at the end of the semester.

Jamie pass out vs seizure

I had to pick Jamie up from school this morning. It seems he "passed out" for at least a minute, according to his friends who were present. They thought he was joking/faking until they tried to get him to stand up and he fell back down. When he woke up he had no memory of the preceding events and felt like he was dreaming, foggy and confused, dizzy, his friends helped him up and he was stumbling down the hall for a bit. He went ahead to class, took a test, but then decided he need to go to the nurse. He didn't have a headache this morning but had a small one after the event. I brought him home where he promptly laid on the couch and is now sleeping. I spoke with Dr Williamson's office and they have scheduled Jamie for a 24 hr EEG tomorrow at 11am. I don't really have much more info, but will let you all know as soon as I can.

Auri's Annie

As you know, Auri was cast in the Frenchtown school play of Annie. Jan and I went to 2 performances and all I can say is WOW! I was impressed! Auri acted her tail off! She was great! You could hear her singing (leading the group even!) and her body language and facial expressions were spot on (except for one area of smiling when she should have frowned during the cast A performance :) she says Aly and Aspen were making faces at her from the audience) No sign of our once shy little girl. Those of you who went to her school dance last year will be most impressed by her transition and stage presence. She was a pleasure to watch!!! Alas, we were not allowed to take video or pics...however, the school did take a video that will be avail on DVD in the library for check out (we'll make a copy for you all). They also took still pics (without a flash-for the safety of the actors) that should also be avail. They taped 2 shows-one with each cast. Auri is in both shows/both casts. I believe over-all the B cast was the best. Also of note, the Annie in B cast is our neighbor from across the street!!

Auri had a great time, made many new friends and found a passion for theatre! She is looking forward to the next production in the spring and may even join the Missoula Children's Theatre's Teen Arts Group (TAG). As many of the Frenchtown plays seem to be musicals (not suprising since the choir and band instructors ran the show), she has also requested singing lessons. She is singing well but the higher octaves are hard for her to reach with the volume necessary to reach the audience and still be in key. To that end, you better sit for this, she even went up and spoke to a lady about lessons, was referred to another lady and is following up with her!! Prior to the Annie show, you had to drag her and nearly pull teeth to get her to talk to an adult that she wasn't already friends or family with!! I practically had to beat her to get her to talk to her teachers about missing assignments!! Her new confidence is fabulous!

She is also excited that she should be starting to play the tuba again. She spoke with the band director and he is very excited to have her in band next semester and has been trying to locate a tuba (or 2) to purchase for her use. Hopefully, he will be able to locate one in the next couple of weeks.

Who knew moving to a small town would bring such big changes!! It has been so nice to watch our children bloom right before our eyes. I, for one, am glad we came :)