::what's up with Lily?::

Emma took this picture of Lily and Lily's birthday party.  It makes me so happy.  She is so cute.  
That kid has had lots of things going down this last year.  
She started third grade with out a hitch.  She is pretty concerned about the idea of moving but she is coping okay.
Then on August 16th she started puking.  I thought it was normal old kid stomach bug stuff.  This ED nurse wasn't going to over react and take that kid in for normal stuff.  But she didn't stop.  I called the pediatrician, like you always should.  She said don't worry about it.  I called them a day latter and they still said don't worry about it.  So I went against all my own rules and took her in anyway after work on the 20th.  I know I always whine about bringing your kids the ED if they don't need it, but this kid needed it.  Screw the Dr on the phone.  
  After many glorious hours in a peds ED (ALWAYS TAKE A KID TO A KIDS ED!!!!!) Lily ended up getting admitted for five days.  She got lots of fluids and would start to get all better, till they tried to feed her and she would get sick again.  We had some total BS diagnosis (abdominal migraine) and some other silly things go down.  But finally she just got better.  We think it was just a very persistent viral GI bug.  That poor kid was a hot mess.  It was so wonderful to see her get better.  I really don't care what was wrong with her, just that she got better and we dodged a bullet.   We are supposed to follow up with her GI Dr.  I don't think she needs any follow up but we will go just to humor them, since they called and requested we make an appointment.  

Many of you may know that Lily has had some struggles with school.  She struggles with reading at the same level as her peers.  Her kindergarten and first grade teacher ignored these problems.  I finally got her second grade teacher and a new school principle to work with me and address these issues.  They had Lily tested and she qualified for extra help.  By that point her math scores had fallen behind her peers too.  Math had previously been a strong suit, but I think her confidence was broken.  They spent the last half of the year getting her on track, but she still ended the year behind.  Her grades are always A's and B's.  This last term she got all A's.  But that is only because she was in the lowest reading group and the lowest math group.  When I asked her about reading once she told me, "I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer."  That is an expression I use a great deal, never about her, and the way she said it - like she thought it was just a slightly humorous fact and that I would just agree...  I almost died.  I had a very serious talk with her about how she had many talents that the other kids did not have and might not ever have.  I explained that she was way above them all in music and acting.  I told her that she might not be learning to read as fast as them, but we would keep working on it, and once she got it she would catch up.  She kind of believed me, and over time I really talked her into the truth in it. 

This year things have been more on track with school.  I can see a big improvement.  She is reading better and putting it all together.  The other day she told me that math was too easy and that she wanted to move up to the next math group.  I encouraged her to talk to her teacher about it.  We practiced and worked on what she would say.  When she talk to the teacher she told her she was already thinking about moving her up a level anyway!!!!  Lily came home grinning ear to ear.  She felt like big stuff.  And yesterday she moved up to the next math group.  There are few parenting moments where you get to think you handled something right and it all worked out perfectly.  

This is one.  

I feel like I am basking in the sun.    

Till I get a note from Max's teacher.  :)