Super Reader

Josh started showing interest and ability in reading rather young. Right after he turned 4 years old we started learning our letters, letter sounds and then sight words. He picked it all up so fast I figured he would be independently reading in no time. But after he started kindergarten and he was learning SO much, his reading definitely slowed, if not stalled, for quite some time. It was like it just wasn't clicking with him, and that with all the other school work he was doing there just wasn't room in that 5 year old brain to fit in excelling reading.

Then we started to notice some things that started to concern us a little bit. He would be able to read certain words with no problem, but then simple words, like "we" he would stumble on and just couldn't figure them out. That with a few other red flags had me researching symptoms of dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Not that I was convinced he had any of them, but figured a little due diligence wouldn't hurt anything. My main concern was that he wouldn't be up to par with the rest of the kids in the reading department when he started 1st grade at his new school in August. I talked to his doctor about it at his well check after his 6th birthday, and she gave me some suggestions and some other things to look out for, but didn't seem too concerned about it, so that encouraged me.

Then over the summer, something has happened. It's like the little reading switch has all of a sudden been turned on. The man is a reading machine! He is reading everything in sight. He still needs help with some of the larger words, but he is now to the point where he reads by himself. It's too cute, because he doesn't yet read silently, so whenever he's reading a book, even if he's all alone, he reads it out loud to himself. I love it! I feel like any concerns I did have are totally gone and I'm confident he'll definitely be able to hold his own in 1st grade!

Joshua's First Retina Rodeo

Joshua started wearing glasses when he was just 3 1/2 years old. We've known all along that neither of our kids would probably have a prayer of not needing any kind of vision correction. So I have been taking him for annual visits to the ophthalmologist ever since. This year, I took Benny as well. We weren't surprised to find that he also needed glasses. I was a little sad to put glasses on his little face, but I think they suit him well.

Joshua also got some new glasses that he thinks are super cool. He is super sensitive to sunlight and must always wear sunglasses when outside or else the poor guy can't function. So his new glasses have the Transitions lenses, which change from regular glasses to sunglasses when exposed to UV rays. They're pretty awesome and he absolutely loves them!

While we were at the ophthalmologist's office, the doctor said that Joshua's optic nerves looked large, which would mean there was a pressure issue, or it could mean nothing, so we were sent to a retina specialist to have a little more extensive check. At the retina specialists' office, they took an OCT scan of Joshua's eyes which showed some abnormalities. The doctor said these kinds of abnormalities were something normally found in a 50 year old, not a 6 year old. Joshua's sensitivity to light kind of hindered the physical eye exam. The poor guy was trying so hard to keep his eyes open, but he just couldn't. In light of the abnormalities shown in the OCT scan, the retina specialist wanted to take a good look at his eyes, and thought that putting Joshua under general anesthesia was the way to go. We scheduled the procedure at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Joshua was so super brave! We showed up at the hospital and were taken into preop, where Joshua was given a total of 12 eye drops in each eye. But he took them like a champ!

The hospital was so great. They had a child life specialist who came in and talked to him about what the operating room would look like, the mask they would use to help him go to sleep, and also offered him some movies to watch while we waited for the doctor and anesthesiologist to be ready for us.

Finally it was time to roll. Joshua got to take a ride on his bed back to the OR, which he thought was pretty cool, and he wasn't scared at all! After about an hour the anesthesiologist came out and told us Joshua was in recovery and resting comfortably. We found out that his retinas had some weak spots that the doctor had to use the laser on to strengthen them. All part of being part of the Duncan family! When Josh finally woke up, he was in a bit of pain, saying his eyes felt like fire and his brain hurt, and did throw up a couple times, but after some pain meds was a bit more comfortable. We came home and he pretty much drifted in and out of consciousness the rest of the day, but didn't complain too much more of pain or nausea. This was yesterday. He slept well all night and this morning woke up just about good as new. His eyes are still a little red and he says they still hurt a little, but otherwise he was perfectly normal!

The doctor sounded a little concerned that he had to take any kind of action at Joshua's young age, but early intervention is definitely the key to keeping Joshua's eyes healthy, and we will do whatever it takes to keep his eyes in tip top shape!

Happy 6th Birthday, Joshua!

Joshua had the best birthday party this year! We celebrated the big 6 with a bowling party! It was so much fun! Lots of friends, and even his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Harren, came to celebrate with him and enjoy some bowling, pizza and of course cake.

Benny was probably the cutest bowler I've ever seen. He would push the ball down the alley and wait in a squat to see how many pins he knocked over. It was so super cute!

When I asked Joshua what he wanted for a birthday cake, his one requirement was that I also made "cake pops", so I decided to combine the two and set up a cake pop bowling alley on his cake. It turned out so cute, and suited the party perfectly!

The day ended with a few games in the arcade!

What a perfect way to celebrate a truly amazing little boy! Happy birthday, Joshua!

Joshua's Kindergarten Graduation

It is unbelievable how quickly Joshua's kindergarten year passed us by. It seems like just yesterday we were watching him take his first steps into the kindergarten room and learning how to say the pledge of allegiance. Before we knew it, the school year was over and it was time for his graduation into 1st grade!

The graduation ceremony was incredible, and really showcased all the wonderful things they learned throughout the year. They showed us all the Italian they learned, like colors, counting, days of the week, months of the year, and even the "30 Days Has September" poem. They all did awesome! They also sang the "Can't Spell Hippopotamus" song and all read a story aloud to the crowd to show us the awesome reading skills they had developed throughout the year.

Then it was time for the big moment, the handing of the diploma!

Joshua had the greatest teacher for Kindergarten, and we thank her so much for a wonderful year. Joshua made Mrs. Harren a special book telling her all the things he loved about Kindergarten. It was so sweet!

All of Joshua's grandparents came and celebrated his special day with him, too!

Following the ceremony was a cake reception. I was so honored to be able to make the cake for the celebration. Since there were only 7 kids in the class, I decided to put all of their little faces on the cake, and personalize it as best I can. It was a huge hit.

The kids were so cute when they saw it. They were all so excited to see their faces on the cake. They all were saying "I see me!" So cute!

After graduation we let Joshua pick where we got to go have a special dinner, and he picked the "Cafe", known to most as the buffet. :)

It really was an amazing year and we are so happy we kept Joshua at North Phoenix Baptist Church for Kindergarten, because we were completley blessed by it! Now on to 1st grade and a brand new school!

Great Season, Dragons!

Joshua had a great first season of soccer! His final game was on December 11th. It was so fun to see his improvement over the season. He totally understood the rules of the game, and surprisingly, was a pretty darn good goalie. He had a lot of fun and got to make some new friends, so all in all, I'd say soccer was a success for him. Go Dragons!

Of course I had to make a cake to share with the team to celebrate a great season.

Great season, Dragons!

Kindergarten Fun!

A couple weeks ago, Joshua's kindergarten class had planned a field trip to Mother Nature's Farm in Gilbert, and I planned to go with them. Unfortunately, on the day of the field trip it was raining, so his teacher decided to postpone the trip to the next day. Since the kids all had their hearts set on a fun day, she decided to take them over to the Family Life Center on the church campus, where there is none other than a roller rink! This was Joshua's first time on roller skates. All things considered, it sounds like he did pretty well. His teacher, Mrs. Harren, was nice enough to take some photos of their little adventure.

I think there was a lot of this going on that day...

See?

Josh quickly learned that holding onto the wall prevented taking so many tumbles.

His little friend, Ava (who is completley head over heels in love with Josh) is a more experienced skater than most of the other kids. She was trying to help Joshua, and told him to let go of the wall and skate over to her, promising to catch him if he fell. Mrs. Harren caught this precious photo.

It wasn't the farm that everyone had planned, but a fun day was had by all anyway.

The next day proved to be sunnier, and so the farm was a go! It was such a cute little place, complete with hayride, pumpkin decorating and farm animals. It was a blast!

Here's our group of cute kindergarteners!

First order of business was a hayride.

The hayride dropped us off right in front of all of the animals. We found out that a litter of piglets had been born just 5 days before. Aren't they the cutest?

The rest of our day was super fun too. The photos can pretty much speak for themselves.

We had such a great time. I hope I can go on a few more of the field trips this year so I can spend more time with this great bunch of kids!

Soccer Star!

Joshua has officially started his first organized sport. We've been wanting to get him into something for a while now, but like with so many other things, it was just hard to get our act together! We thought soccer might be a good fit for him, so we went for it. How cute is he in his soccer uniform!

At the first practice, the kids decided their team name should be the Dragons. Josh was a little disappointed because he wanted to be the Tigers, but he still thinks the Dragons are pretty cool. He's doing so well! He had his first game yesterday (against the Dragon Sharks), and got a few good kicks of the ball in. It was so fun to see him out there!

At half time it was time for a quick snack!

He really had a great time, and definitely worked up a sweat!

Although no official score is kept, our count was a 2-2 tie. Game 2 is next week, and we're so excited to see him get some more time on the field. Go Dragons!

Kindergarten!!!

What a big day it was! Joshua started Kindergarten today! I just can't believe it. He's officially in school. He decided to keep him at the same school where he's gone to daycare for kindergarten. They have an awesome program, and he only has 6 kids in his class! He has been so excited to start kindergarten, and had such a great day! Of course I had to get the "first day of school" pictures before we left the house (Benny also moved up to the 3 year old classroom this week, so it was a big day for him too!)

School starts at 8:30, so Andrew and I thought it would be fun to go into work a little late and skip the before care today so that we could see him get started on his first day. The class lines up outside of the pre-k room where their teacher, Mrs. Harren, takes them upstairs to their classroom.

This is where I was totally caught of guard. We have been at this school since Joshua was 10 weeks old, so I figured that moving up to Kindergarten wouldn't affect me very much and that I wouldn't get too emotional. Boy, was I wrong! As soon as he was lined up to go upstairs, here come the waterworks! I was crying, and then laughing at myself for crying! But no matter where it is, starting kindergarten is such a right of passage, and the official beginning to his educational career. It's a big deal!

When they arrived upstairs, they learned that the first thing they do before going inside the classroom is give Mrs. Harren a hug. :)

They each have their assigned seats with their supply boxes and pouches on the back of their chairs to hold their work. So school-like!

The first thing they did was learn the pledges of allegiance: to the American flag, to the Christian flag, and to the Bible.

After the pledges, it was calendar time, and our cue to leave. But of course, not before snapping one last picture.

In light of their big day, we thought it would be fun to celebrate with dinner out. Joshua picked In n Out, which is always a family favorite.

And we finished our meal with a couple of milkshakes!

Hey, Andrew! Save some for the rest of us!

It was a wonderful day of new beginnings! I can't wait to see what they learn and how they grow this year. It's so exciting, and we couldn't be prouder of both of them!