Hey Daddy I Wanna Go To School!

This morning, Madison slept in. When he finally awoke we asked him if he wanted to go to school.

His answer was thus, "Me stay home, I'm sick".

So off we all went in the car to take mommy to work, pick up some medicine and some breakfast.

When we got back to the house, Maddy looks up to me and says, "Daddy, I wanna go to school!". So off we go to school after frantically looking for his school uniform and hurriedly packing his lunch.

On the way out to the car, he was teasing the puppy from next door with his meatpie when the puppy lunged at him and took off with his meatpie. It was so funny to see the look on his face!

I gave him my meatpie and all was okay again.

Maddy and Amataga

Maddy has had an up and down day, as far as his friends are concerned. He was out playing with them early this morning but his friends deserted him after he became rather impetuous.

He has a habit of dominating everything and his friends can only take so much apparently. When he doesn't get his way, or noone listens to what he's trying to say he walks right up to whoever it was and smacks them.

It's funny though because he came crying back to the house earlier and when I asked him why he was crying he said that "Mataga smacked me!!!"

His new best friend, Amataga (Maddy calls him Mataga) from next door came back later on this evening and the 2 of them were again thick as theives. All's well in paradise.

Here's a photo of Maddy doing his tiger impression AAAAAHHHHHHH. He does it until he's hoarse sometimes. The kids love it.

So Far So Good

Day 2 of my 3 week leave has been good. Me and my son are having lots of fun playing games, reading books and watching movies.

Madison loves playing with the next door neighbours kids and I can keep an eye on him from the second floor balcony.

I could get used to staying at home!

Spending Time With My Son

After a disappointing salary negotiation, I've decided to take the next 3 weeks on leave to reassess my future with the Peace Corps. Immediately following my 3 weeks off will be a 2-week trip to Washington DC, where I'll be attending a workshop for the Pacific region's IT Specialists. So all-in-all, I'll be off for 5 weeks. I don't think I've ever had a vacation so this should be interesting.

I'll use this time away from work to spend more time with my son, read him books, take him to the playground, teach him new stuff and watch him grow. I might even build him a sandbox in the front yard. I'm looking forward to it!

Reaching For The Moon

Tonight, me and Madison were outside looking at the stars when Maddy said, "Daddy, look at the moon up there!". He then proceeded to jump up and down with his hands outstretched. When I asked him what he was doing he said, "Daddy, see the moon up there? I can't reach it!"

It's the little moments like this that make life worth living.

UPDATE: Doctors Visit Goes Well

Maddy skipped school today so he could go with mommy to the hospital and wasn't happy about it. He likes leaving the house with us every morning and doesn't like being left behind.

The doctors visit went well, the doctor said the heart murmur wasn't as pronounced as it was before and seems to be reacting well to the antibiotics. Thank God for that.

He's now on penicillin syrup for a month, twice a day. I hope it tastes okay so Maddy won't be too fussy about taking it. So far he's been very good when it comes to taking his medicine. He looks so proud of himself when he takes it and we let him know how very proud we are when he does.

Thank you for all of the support. It means a great deal to us to know that the help will be there should the need arise!

Could Maddy Have Rheumatic Fever?

I know it's been awhile since I added something to Maddy's website and his journal. Things have been crazy and with all that's been happening, I haven't been in the mood to do anything online.

We managed to make the move to Lalovaea without too many complications. It's been kinda hard making the adjustment, Madison seems the least bothered of all of us, which is good. The house needs a lot of repairs. We're doing a little bit here and there but the major components such as the leaking roof and rotting floorboards will require the assistance of the aiga lautele.

Maddy is almost 100% healthy again after a worrying 5 - 6 weeks of the flu. We went to 3 different doctors, each of whom had a different diagnosis. The last visit we made was to the echocardiologists at the National Hospital who told us that Maddy has a minor heart valve malfunction caused by a mild case of rheumatic fever.

I am skeptical, to say the least. He has none of the symptoms and is very strong, active and has good stamina for a child his age. He doesn't have a rash of any kind nor does he suffer from joint pain.

Anyway, they say that Maddy must take antibiotics for a 10 day period after which he will be assessed again. If this treatment doesn't fix the "problem" he will require penicillin injections for an indefinite period of time. I hear that those shots are painful.

I'm thinking that maybe Maddy and his mommy might be coming to NZ for a checkup with a REAL doctor at a REAL hospital. Talk about frustrating.

Advanced Development

I just finished reading this interesting article in Newsweek magazine called "When Does Autism Start?" It's about the rise of autism in children around the world, as much as 500% in the past decade alone.

According to the article there are tell-tale signs to watch for to see if your child has autism. At seven months, many children are able to turn their head when name is called, smile back at another person, respond to sounds with sounds and enjoy social play (such as peekaboo). Maddy was doing all that at 6 months.

At one year, many children are able to use simple gestures, make sounds such as ma and da, imitate actions in play and respond when told "no". Phew, Maddy was doing all that too.

At 4 years, many children are able to use five to six word sentences, follow three step commands (get dressed, comb your hair and wash your face) and cooperate with other children. Maddy is already capable of that at 2 and a half years old.

We've been blessed with a very bright child!