Narrative Report : January 5 to January 9, 2009

Narrative Report
Period Covered: January 5 to January 9, 2009
By: Teacher Cristy

Happy New Year! As in the past, Griffin quickly settled back to school time after the two week Christmas break. He easily read JANUARY and answered "2009", as we talked about the new year. He enjoyed our walk outdoors as we blew little horns to welcome the first school day of the year. He also eagerly did our blow painting activity where we made our own version of fireworks. And when we had some writing activities, he announced to all "my favorite color is now blue", and he went on to get a blue pen from the box.:) He still finds it difficult to make his handwriting smaller. Although his strokes are a little better. He still doesn't want to write his surname, which he says is too long. When we talked about new things we would like to learn thisnew year, he said "I want to learn to write more things!". :)

As we did some math exercises on +, >, <, =, his initial comment when he saw the worksheets was "It looks a little hard, but it's OK". What he found difficult was writing the numbers and the symbols >,< but the concepts of addition, greater/lessthan and equal are not a problem for him at all. He likewise did very well in our reading comprehension activity, as well as forming 3-4 letter words.

Writing Woes

Teacher Cristy talked to me yesterday. She asked me if Griffin practices writing at home and I said no. Griffin doesn't really like writing because I think he has a hard time, forming letters. I bought writing books for him but it's hard to convince him to write. His teacher says he still has a hard time writing. He actually does his work really quickly but when it comes to writing he's kind of slow.

His other classmates are now writing both their first name and last name but Griffin tells the teacher if he can just do his first name because his surname is so long. When his classmates finish ahead of him, he tells them, "Hey guys, wait for me". He doesn't show frustration though, even if he does have difficulty writing, according to his teacher. She now gives him extra writing work in school to practice him. She's afraid he might have a difficult time when he goes to big school next year.

After the talk with his teacher, I told Griffin that he must practice writing his name everyday. I let him write his full name 2 times everyday. So far, he writes when I tell him to. He also has a problem writing some numbers as he writes them in reverse. I'm really hoping he gets better at writing soon.

Big Bellies

Griffin says that Ama and his Daddy have big tummies but they are not pregnant. He said they have big tummies because they eat too much so they have food babies inside and not a real baby.

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While eating at Superbowl last Sunday.....

Me: Do you want Daddy to be fat or thin?
Griffin: Thin.
Me: What should he do?
Griffin: He should also have liposuction like you.

2 Molars Free from Cavities

Our trip to the dentist last Sunday was also successful. Although at first, Griffin cried when the dentist used the hand tools because he said it was "owie". So the dentist ended using the drill which made it quicker to fix his molar. Now, both his lower molars are cavity free. I'm impressed at how the dentist can make Griffin agree to using the drill because at the other dentist he really refuses it. Our next appointment will be on January 21. The dentist will work on a big cavity on his canine, I hope there won't be any problems with Griffin. When this tooth is done, the rest of his cavities are not that bad anymore. I can't wait till all his teeth are done. I would be so happy. I even promised him a party when all his teeth are cavity free.

I'm really surprised at how good Griffin is taking my request of "no candy and no softdrinks". Ever since we went to the new dentist, I told him no more candies and softdrinks because these make his teeth rot. He really doesn't eat or ask for candy anymore. He did not even order softdrinks when we ate at Superbowl. He was even offered softdrinks at his lola's house and he said, "My mommy said it's bad for my teeth".

Last night he was sitting on the table and saw a bag of candies, I was shaking my head then he said,"no" and pushed the bag away. Later, he saw Willie drinking Coke, he was asked if he wanted some, he took a little sip. He asked his daddy, "Why are you drinking softdrinks, it will make his teeth rot?" His dad said, "I'm drinking it so that there won't be any softdrinks left to drink at home". Griffin said, "You don't have to drink it". Although Griffin did have a few gulps in the room because Willie brought the Coke inside. At least he knows it's bad and doesn't ask for it anymore, whereas, he used to ask for Coke first thing in the morning.

Dentist Update

Our visit to the dentist last thursday was a success. Dr. Jay, Griffin's new dentist was able to put fillings on Griffin's lower right molar. He used a technique called atraumatic restorative treatment. He was able to clean out the decay using hand tools only. He used the drill very minimally which worked very well with Griffin because he's afraid of the sound the drill makes.

I'm so happy that we tried out this dentist because he's really patient with kids and is very good at dealing with them. He was able to put Griffin at ease, thus he successfully did the fillings.

I asked Griffin that night if he liked his new dentist and he said, "Yes". I'm hoping that Griffin would continue to cooperate until all his cavities are filled. It's still a long way to go since he has a lot of cavities. We'll be returning to the dentist this Sunday for another filling. Good luck to us.

New Dentist

We went to a new dentist yesterday. The other day Griffin was complaining that his tooth was aching that's why I decided to try out this other dentist. The dentist just checcked Griffin's teeth and he has 10 teeth with cavities. We will be returning this afternoon, hopefully Griffin would cooperate so that he can have his teeth fixed.


Griffin with his new dentist, Dr. Jay.

Waiting while his dentist makes his glove balloon.

Baby's Moving In My Tummy

I've been feeling the baby move lately. Sometimes just once or twice a day, usually when I'm awake in the middle of the night. With regards to the bad feeling I've got because of the pregnancy hormones, I'm feeling a lot better now, although at times, my tummy still feels so full after eating.

This afternoon, Griffin was touching my tummy and he said he was talking to Calliope, that's the name Willie told him. He told me if the baby was a boy, he would be called Magnus Fighting Robot. Both names are not my type. I want to make sure first what the baby's gender is, before I search for names.

Baby #2 Update

I went to the doctor today. I gained 8 lbs from my last visit. The doctor says if I plan to have a normal delivery, that is really too much to gain but if I plan to undergo C-section again, which I plan to, then that is ok. However, I'll be having another glucose test by the end of this month and if I have high sugar levels then I still have to watch my weight.

My doctor gave me a free ultrasound to check on how the baby is doing and try to find out the gender. At first, she couldn't see if it was a boy or a girl because the baby's legs were crossed. She asked me to lie on my side and tried again. Although she couldn't tell for sure, by what she saw on the ultrasound, she thinks the baby is a girl. We might find out for cetain the gender of the baby when I have my 4D ultrasound first week of February.

Christmas and New Year

We just had simple celebrations for Christmas and New Year's Day. On Christmas Eve, we ate dinner at my auntie's house. When we got home, Griffin got to open his gifts then for Noche Buena, we ate at Ama's house. For New Year's Eve dinner we had roasted ribs, baby potatoes and coleslaw, then had our Media Noche at Ama's house again.

Christmas Eve


Opening gifts


New Year's Eve