2013: More Catching Up

At first Katie was really excited about moving.  She'd grown sick of our apartment and was ready for a change.  She was NOT, however, excited about what it would mean for the fate of her beloved cat, Dinah.  Grandma was not willing to have any pets come along to her apartment, so we had to find alternatives for our two cats.  As I hoped this was only going to be a 3-4 month stay w/Mom I arranged sort of foster care arrangements for both cats, with separate people.  We'd hoped they could go to someone we knew, but in the end I had to resort to finding strangers on Craig's List who were willing to take them in.  This separation was very hard on Katie and she worried for weeks about what would happen to Dinah before I finally got things settled.  We've gone once to visit Dinah at her foster home and she seemed happy.  Katie missed her a lot at first, but doesn't talk about her much anymore.


The girls finished off the school year in their same Robbinsdale schools by me driving them there and back every day.  Katie kept up hope that she would be back there the next (this) year, but I kept warning her that it would all depend on where I was able to get a job and that there was a strong likelihood that we may end up in another school district.

Showing off the long tooth

In early June Katie had to be hospitalized for some oral surgery to remove her eye teeth to make room for the adult teeth that have started coming in.  It had to be done in hospital under sedation because of her sensitivities and anxiety.  There was just no way she could be numbed up and sit through a procedure like that in the regular dentist's office.  She had some serious apprehensions, but made it through like a trooper.



My brother in the Marines was home with his family for almost 3 weeks in July and Katie enjoyed all the extra family time with twin cousins that she never usually gets to see.  They were here over the 4th of July and Uncle Matt got sparklers for the kids, but Katie was afraid of them, so she mostly just stood back and watched.  She has no problem with the noise of the big fireworks display at night anymore though, so that is certainly an improvement and relief.

Katie & Melanie w/their older stepbrothers

The girls went on a vacation to the Black Hills with their dad and his family in July.  Kate was a little worried about being away from me for SO long and begged me to come with, but that certainly wasn't an option!  Rob was unhappy with me for not sending Katie's ADHD meds with for the trip, but she hadn't been taking them all summer up to that point so I had never even thought of it.  Apparently they had a tough time though, driving all those hours out there with little for her to do and he reported that she needed constant redirection and was generally "bouncing off the walls".  I was sorry it had made the trip difficult for her, but really hadn't been having that problem at home.


Once they came home though and there was no more excitement of activity with cousins every day to keep her busy and focused I too noticed that her ADHD symptoms were a lot more pronounced and got her back on the Concerta even before school started.  Katie is a sweetheart and has never gotten as wildly off the wall as some ADHD kids I've known, but she is a talker.  She talks, and talks, and talks......and talks!  Without meds there is no filter whatsoever and every thought that passes through her head must be shared.  Drives the rest of us a little bit out of our minds!