Well, after the thrill of Ethan's 4th Birthday and Baptism the rest of the summer rolled on by up until Ethan started school on 14th September '09. He has really enjoyed the whole school experience but struggled a bit with the big playground initially, especially at lunch time. Too noisy and too many children [for him] I think. He's also never really taken to staying for packed lunch ~ possibly also linked in the beginning to his playground issues although those are resolved now but he's still not keen on eating his lunch at school. He's had a few weeks where he has stayed but mostly he comes home for lunch.
We finally moved house in November '09 so we're practically on the doorstep of the school now. I'm also working at his school as a Teaching Assistant in KS2 with three special needs children which I'm loving. This means that I'm never far away and this too makes the logistics of coming home for lunch even easier as we come home together. If he does stay for sandwiches then I do too so I can be close by if he has a wobbly.
The 4th March, 2010 was World Book Day and here is Ethan dressed up as Long John Silver obviously lol ;). He had a fab day!!
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He is doing great academically. He is reading and writing now and despite being the youngest in his year he is surpassing all expectations for his age. At the outset he was definately more of a Numeracy buff in preference to Literacy but this was no surprise to us as we always knew that he loved numbers. His school report indicated that he was way above his target level for his age in this area. That said he's recently ~ and by that I mean in the last six weeks or so ~ got very enthusiastic about his reading as was proved tonight when he spelt out a four letter word [a clean one I mean lol] using the letters on 'Countdown' ~ 'lips' was the word. Both Si and I were amazed. It's suddenly just clicked for him and he's reading everything from road signs to food packets.
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Although not keen initially to pick up a pencil [it's a boy thing] he's also just become keen to write, draw and colour anything and everything. I love the way that Ethan does things when he's good and ready and won't be rushed. He's his own man.
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On the health front we have good and bad. He was signed off from the hospital two weeks ago regarding his legs, the strange way he sits in a 'W' and the pain that he was getting behind his knees. So, that was great news. He still prefers to sit that way on the floor but will cross his legs like the other children on the carpet in class although is not keen to do that at home. Pretty soon he'll be at a desk for some of the day and at home he sits on the floor less and less as he grows up so I've a feeling it will become less of an problem as he matures. He is certainly getting far less pain, it's very rare that he mentions it now.
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Sadly he has just been diagnosed with Asthma. If I'm honest it wasn't a huge surprise as he's been showing signs for the last couple of winters that things could go that way with prolonged coughs with no apparent cause and coughs after colds that just won't shift for weeks. However, this year he's been alot worse and finally yesterday I took him to be checked as he's been dry coughing for weeks. The asthma nurse says he's pretty classic ~ exercise induced and seasonal asthma. ie he's going to wheeze and cough all winter especially after sports or playtime and be fine all summer. I kept him off school today to try and stabilise him as he's been quite poorly this week and he's very tired with all the coughing at night. Also I wanted to make sure he could use his inhaler confidently ~ he can, like a pro already :). I don't think he'll be well enough for school tomorrow but hopefully by Monday he'll be back on form. He had a much better night last night, barely coughing at all so the inhalers are starting to work their magic.
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So, I think that's about it. He's growing so fast and is still a complete joy to be with. Such a happy little chap with a really wicked sense of humour that is starting to show itself more and more often. We're hoping to get away on holiday this summer now we've moved so if we do I'll be sure to post photo's.
