Bode's First Day

I have to say, i am really impressed with this child o' mine. He has come a long long way. Looooong way. In the not-so-distant past (i think i use that phrase a lot), there would have been so much build-up to a new experience like starting kindergarten. So much fear. So much resistance. The drive to school would have been a nightmare. Dropping him off would have been nearly impossible. He would have been pulling on me. Showing all sorts of inappropriate behavior to deal with his anxiety. Not so today!

We took a couple of pictures of him on the front step feeling shy and somewhat embarassed by the attention. He and i jumped in the car and took off to school. He talked the entire way. I wish i could remember what he talked about. He talks when he's anxious, i've realized, but this was good, fun talk, too. Nonstop. We walked into the school together and there was zero hesitation. Sometimes he's sort of almost bold until we hit the door of wherever we're going and then the brakes go on. But he marched right in. The routine at this school is that the entire student body meets in the gym in the morning for the principal's greeting and to say the Pledge. This is where the brakes went on. Again, loud and chaotic. We had to figure out where his class was. They were supposed to sit in a line on the gym floor and wait and Bode wanted nothing to do with that. So i stood to the side with him and let him take in what he could. Once the Pledge was done, the classes were sent off (and i wasn't impressed that his teacher just walked away leading the line, but not noticing that after the first two kids, the others were sort of scrambled and not sure where to go. One kid ended up on the other side of the school. Didn't really inspire confidence in the "just drop your kid off in the gym" plan. I think i'll see him to his class for a long while, thankyouverymuch). We got into the classroom, found a hook/cubby for his backpack. The kids slowly made their way into the class and i tried to give Bode some space and he sort of stood alone for a minute until his friend Nathan came over to him. He's this sweet, huggy, kissy little boy. The teacher soon told the kids to go over to the rug for circle and Bode did. He plopped right down. Nathan scooched over to sit by him. And i felt no need to be there other than the fact that i couldn't believe it was possible to just drop him and go so soon! I went out into the hall where a few other moms were hovering around the small window in the door and watched for a bit, chatted with some moms, and then left. I was so impressed.

When i picked him up, he seemed happy enough. The teacher had a much better vibe. Bode said goodbye to one of his friends (he's been struggling with talking to people lately so i was happy to see this). Said goodbye to his teacher in a way that i could tell he seems to like her. So i'm happy with that. He's never been quick to tell me about what goes on at school/how his day was. Sometimes he won't say anything (even though he has great days). But today he shared quite a bit. They toured the school. They played the drums. They played outside and he played with another friend from preschool who's in the full day K class. What they had for snack. Etc. I hope some learning will happen and i'm sure it will. Right now it feels like it's structured just like preschool, but i just need to be patient. All in all, it was a smashing success. He seems excited to go back tomorrow. He got his uniform (just a polo with the school logo) in the mail today, and he wants to wear it tomorrow even though Fridays are wear-whatever-you-want days. I think it's gonna be good. Yahoo!

Trying NOT to Let My First Impression Be My Final Judgement...

(I pushed down a cute lil post about Keegen's first day to spew forth this post. So have a looky if you have a sec...).

Ummm. Hopefully this post will help me at least PROCESS some things about tonight's Back to School Night. It might be a post of jumbled, mish-mashed thoughts. But hopefully somewhere in it i'll be able to think a little more clearly.

A much anticipated night in our house, i might add, since very little information has been given out and SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW.

I gave a lot of thought about where to send Bode to school this year. We have almost too many options in our area when it comes to elementary school. There's the neighborhood public school. The charter school about 10 minutes up the road. And the charter school about five minutes the other way. There were pros and cons to all, of course. In the end, i felt really good about sending him to the charter school 5 minutes away. Smaller class sizes. Hands-on "expeditionary learning" based on the Outward Bound model of learning. More active. Lots of field trips and community involvement. I saw the public school as overcrowded, overwhelming and a lot of sitting doing worksheets. I felt like Bode could very easily get lost in the crowd there.

i've been excited about this school all summer and anxious to get some info and get going. No one knew who the teacher would be, either, since she's a new hire. This school usually just has two full-day kindergarten classes, but they decided to add one half-day AM class. And that's what we got into. We were excited to learn that a boy from summer camp would be in Bode's class. And today i accidentally went to church playgroup at the local park (we were there and all these people i vaguely knew from our new ward started showing up. Lucky me!) and learned that two other little boys from church would be in the same AM class. So, that's very very positive. So nice that he'll have kids he already knows. Should help him feel comfortable faster.

Anyway. My problem? The Back to School Night. Now, i'm new to this, so let me know if i'm wrong. But shouldn't there be some sort of information given at BTSN? Introductions? This is where you put your backpack each day? This is our basic schedule each day? This is the process for dropping your child off and picking them up? Please pack a snack for your child? Etc., etc.

It.Was.Chaos. The entire school had the same BTSN. This charter school, while small, houses K-8. You walk in and have NO IDEA WHERE TO GO. Ends up that the AM class got stuffed in the back of the school in the area with the 7th and 8th graders. Not at the very front with the other two kindergarten classes. We figured this out and headed to meet his teacher. We walk in and chaos. No organization. Finally we hear her yell, "Go ahead and take the handouts from the desk as you walk in." We do. We figure out she's taking pictures of each child with their families that she'll post on the bulletin board (which is great), so we wait in line to do that. I talked to her ever-so-briefly after she took our family picture but got the feeling i was keeping her (although no one was waiting behind us) and she was very distracted. I get this. She's human. It's a busy, chaotic, disorganized night. She's nervous, maybe? She's never been an "in the classroom" teacher. As she wrote on her blurb for the school website, she's got a degree in El Ed, 5 kids, she's taught some preschool, done some sub teaching and used to homeschool her kids. She's starting teaching this year and starting on her Master's in Ed at the same time. Woman's got a lot on her plate (oh and 6 dogs, 2 cats, 1 bunny and 2 horses).

Here's in large part what i thought was lacking. Some enthusiasm. I didn't get a great feeling from her. She didn't exude much energy in a positive or negative way. She just seemed kind of flat. She never tried to engage anyone, from what i could see.

She never stood up and talked to us. The kids are playing and the parents are sort of sitting around looking at each other and some even asking, "What are we supposed to be doing?" I figured out i could fill out a little info sheet and turned that in. I asked another parent if they knew about the dropping off routine. I craned to listen in on what another parent was asking the teacher after they had their picture taken.

The schedule was written on the board and i really hope he actually learns something this year. My goal for him going to this school is in very large part to just learn that school is fun. Learning is fun. And i hope he can continue to emerge from his reserved, anxious little shell and participate in a group and not shut-down when he's in front of a group. I'm trying to remind myself of this. But looking at the schedule, i didn't see a lot of learning going on. AND it was supposed to be 7:55 till 11:15. But dismissal time was written as 11. So this means i drop Bode off at 7:45 and have an HOUR to kill before i can drop Keegen at preschool. Then i have to be back at the school by 11 to pick him up and then kill time till 11:30 to pick up Keegen. Just a lot of time wasting and it TOTALLY ANNOYS ME. I know it's only 15 minutes and that i should get a grip, but COME ON. It's such a short day for him at school and selfishly, i want a little time to myself (well, myself won't be happening with impending newborn, but you know what i mean). Should i have gone for the full-day public kindergarten? AND the class was supposed to be capped at 18. There are 20 on the roles. I know. Only two more. But still. So the class size changed and the dismissal time changed. What else will change next.

But here's another thing that threw us all off. There were three kids in the corner of the classroom during the BTSN. In the play area. I knew immediately that these were three of her kids. Nothing else made sense. OK. So she had to bring her kids. The oldest boy looked about 10. Looked extremely irritated. Was sitting against the wall covering his ears. Keegen and a couple other kids were playing with the toys and Keegen dumped out some sorting bears. Bode and the other boys started helping Keegen pick up the bears when the boy told them to stop helping him and that Keegen had to clean it up himself. This upset Bode and Keegen. We found Bode lunging at the boy in an attempt to squeeze his nose in frustration (yes, squeeze his nose. At least he was trying to defend his brother!). This 10-year old boy was GROWLING at Keegen. A husky, 10 year old boy leaning toward my 15th-percentile-on-the-growth-charts THREE YEAR OLD GROWLING. Growling. Doug feels a little badly because one of our boys came up to him to tell him about this boy and he didn't realize what was happening and let it go a little too long. Keegen ended up in tears YELLING at the boy and pointing his hand at him in the shape of a gun. Coincidental, i'm sure. Bode was near tears and that was our final experience at BTSN. Lovely. Great memory. So a part of me looks at her kid and gets a little judgemental. The total "homeschool stereotype." Poor social skills. Somewhat unkempt. He's obviously got some problems. I KNOW. It's a stereotype. I've met kids who've been homeschooled who are awesome. But not these kids. And Bode's got the same teacher they had. Just frustrated thoughts spewing out.

We walked out of the school reassuring Bode that that boy would NOT be in his class (he will NOT forget him. Should he ever be in the classroom again, which i imagine he will be since it's his MOM in there, that will be what he remembers and he will no doubt say something to him about being a mean kid, because if nothing else, my kid's got a filter). And soothing Keegen's wounded pride. We tried to focus on the positive. I mean, there is some serious positive. This teacher, at least on paper, presents herself really well. She does, on paper, sound really interested and maybe even excited to help our kids learn to love learning. She sounds all about the expeditionary way of learning. Field trips are planned (do we know when they are, though?? Could someone get me a CALENDAR or even a MEMO, please??!!). He knows FIVE little boys in the class. Five. Nathan, across the golf course and from summer camp. H from church. I from church. K from church (i've dubbed them the "Mormon Posse"). And A from his preschool class last year. THAT was a very happy surprise. It should be awesome. Awesome awesome awesome.

We took the boys to McDonald's for dinner (nightmare. it just opened up here in town and you'd think it was a freaking Grand Opening Gala. The entire town was there. But that's another whiny post you can look forward to). Bode said he thinks school is going to be awesome (yes, we overuse that word in our house. See above ending paragraph). Which is HUGE. HUGE i say! that he is positive. So i need to tuck away my doubts and fears and judgements and just see how things play out.

Deep breath. I think i need to take up yoga and meditation. But instead pass the Oreos and get me a Coke.

Keegen's First Day

Today was Keegen's first day of preschool! (Yes, it's only August 4th. Our schools are on a modified year round schedule). He's going to the same preschool where he attended summer camp all summer and even has the same teachers, so, this "first day" thing was really old hat to him!

When i yelled at the boys that it was time to go, Keegen didn't want to go. I think it was more that he didn't want to stop playing than go to school. But i heard Bode, in this very reassuring voice say something like, "Come on, Keegen! Don't you want to go? It will be so fun!" which i thought was darling coming from my more nervous child. We took a few pictures of Keegs on the front step and then got him to school. As i was getting him out of the van he had one moment of hesitation when he said, "Mmmm. I don't want to go if Bode's not going to be there." (Yes, he speaks like an adult. What can i say?). I reassured him that he'd meet lots of new friends. He jumped out and held my hand all the way to the door. Once we got to his class, he was greeted by his teacher (who openly adores him) and away he went. I don't think he even told me "goodbye" even when i tried to get his attention as i was leaving.

When i picked him up he gave me an enormous hug. He didn't have much to say about his day except that they didn't get to play outside and that they ate "fishy crackers and red juice" for snack and that the red juice is now his "favorite juice because it's like cherries." He seemed really really tired (i guess that's what happens when you refuse to nap anymore!). But happy.

He'll just be going two days a week. I wish i could find a program nearby with at least three days, but there aren't a lot of options where we live. We do love this preschool (same one Bode attended last year). He's just the kind of kid who could go every morning and love it. And I, for one, would love that, too! We'll find other ways to keep him busy. Because he's one busy busy little guy!

Shower Power

My sister, Erin, came into town the second week of July with her two girls that are roughly the same ages as my boys. I'll blog about that sometime in the future. But she called me while i was in SLC and said, "I'm coming to town next week and i'm throwing you a baby shower." Who am i to deny her that opportunity?

While i dislike being in any way the center of attention, i had a really great time. She set up a couple of irons and filled my kitchen table with plain white newborn onesies and a bunch of iron-ons to work on that were super cute. And it was a nice way to hang out and chat and for some of the other gals to get to know each other. I'm not a huge fan of shower games, so chatting and ironing and eating was the perfect combination!

just a few of the onesies we made

The food was delish. Fresh fruit, veggies, artichoke dip, chocolate chocolate cake. Mmmmmmmmm.

And the gifts were a treat. Being surrounded by so much pink and purple and girliness was really really fun. Not very many more weeks and this little girl will be here which is a little bit NUTS. Even though this has felt like the longest pregnancy in the history of mankind already, it is still a bit surreal to me that it will result in a little baby girl human permanently moving in with us. Seeing the girly stuff hanging in her room, waiting for the occupant, makes it feel a bit more real and makes me smile.

how ridiculous is this tutu? Love it! Thanks, Jenni!

Stupid Sets In

I'm 30 weeks along. 10 weeks further than i got with Bode before bedrest and 2 weeks further than Keegen. Quite the accomplishment. It's really rather weird. Nice. But weird. I'm ready to just lounge around in my bed with a laptop but my cervix just isn't cooperating...;)

In all seriousness, it is a welcome change. Much less stressful. I do contract a lot but just manage it with my medications and so far so good. I feel very very pregnant. I walk like i'm 42 weeks along (usually because i'm contracting any time i'm walking and it makes me feel like i have to pee really really bad, if that helps anyone with a better visual of what i might be walking like). I find myself breathing to relax, usually during or after a contraction or in response to how crummy the meds make me feel. A woman came up to me after church today to ask how i was doing since i looked so uncomfortable. I'm sure she thinks i'm such a wuss. 30 weeks and already complaining of being so uncomfortable!

The one thing i enjoy a lot is feeling "baby sister," as we call her, move a lot and it's so fun to watch my belly move while i feel it. Makes me laugh.

Things i don't like? The fact that i'm growing out of most of the maternity clothes i'd assumed would last me till the end. The fact that i'm already sleeping like i have a newborn to get up with every 2-3 hours (darn contractions and bladder). The fact that i have zero patience with the children who are already out of my womb. The fact that when it comes to having a conversation, i can't remember what i was saying, or what "that word" is i'm looking for or any other semblance of intelligence (a pre-pregnant problem as well. But much worse now). Gone. Shunting off to my placenta, no doubt.

So my escape of late has been planning her nursery. I have a fun idea for a mobile. And i found a crib skirt i like. I'm searching for a good baby sling/wrap. And i'm making lots of lists of things for Doug to get done in the remaining few weeks. 'Cause i'm really good at putting him to work.

We painted the boys' room and moved Keegen's bed in so they share now. I have mixed feelings about it. For the most part, i think it will be good. But sometimes it's nice to be able to send them to separate rooms! Or like right now, I decided to make Keegen-the-Unable-to-Cope-r take a nap today, so Bode has to stay out of his room and do quiet time somewhere else. They are fighting like cats and dogs and i hope it's just a phase. Anyway. It doesn't really matter. But i do love the bright green on their walls and we hung a cool solar system mobile in there and for the most part, i think they'll like being in the same room.

I need to get off the computer to get some things done. But i can't remember what i'm supposed to be doing.

Finally

So. These pictures were taken LAST July. I finally chose and got the pics in time for Christmas. At that point, i was all about finding frames and getting this collage up on the wall. I found four frames but the 16x16 posed a problem. So the frames sat against the wall in my bedroom. I got pregnant. I got sick. I felt better. And then i FINALLY returned the frames i had since i couldn't find one for the big pic. Found five that worked all together. Had a baby shower which made me want to get.them.on.the.wall. And here they are! I love them! With baby #3 on her way, we'll have to make a trip sometime again for Jeri to update the wall. And maybe we'll include Doug, too.

SLC

I just got back from 10 days in Utah. I decided i was feeling well enough and that we all needed more of a diversion, an actual "summer vacation" and Utah is close enough to drive, we have a free and easy place to stay (my parents' condo) and there's a lot to do. As much as i will not live in Utah for a number of different reasons, i do love visiting. So much kid stuff to do in a very small proximity. Parks on every other corner. Etc., etc.

We drove to Breckenridge on Thursday night after Doug got home from work and stayed at a friend's condo. This cut off a good two hours from the following day's drive, which was really nice. The boys are stellar road-trippers. Seriously, they are so good. Yes, we have a DVD player and that helps, too, but they will sit and listen to audiobooks, look out the window and point things out, look at books and they know that after lunch we always do "quiet time" in the car. This way Keegen always falls asleep and most of the time Bode gets an hour nap as well.

We got in Friday evening and realized that our van A/C stopped working somewhere around Price. So we spent a lovely $1100 getting that fixed on Saturday (ain't no way i was driving BACK to CO without A/C). NOT how i'd planned to spend that kind of money. How did the A/C go out on a 3-year old van? There's a separation in the front bumper (just how it's designed) and a ROCK got between the separation as we drove and blew a hole in our condenser. So much for my CHEAP vacation. Alas. Our van had to sit in the shop all weekend since we have an extended warranty and wanted to see if any of the cost was covered from that. Thankfully, my parents keep a Jeep at the condo so we weren't stranded or having to rent a car for the weeekend. Anywho.

I've already forgotten the order of events. I used to have such a great memory! Oh well. We did LOTS. I think the boys played on Saturday--oh ya. Doug's brother came up to SLC and they played tennis with the boys and we had lunch at Morelia's. Sunday we met my grandma at the Original Pancake House for breakfast (they have GF pancakes. Bode was thrilled!). I made a trip to Ikea at some point during the weekend and spent way more than i should have. But i LOVE the underbed storage baskets i got. Love love love them. They are filled with all my extra sheets and quilts that were falling all over the place in my closets. Doug left Sunday night to go back home to work until Thursday.

So while he was away, we took advantage of all the things to do. We took Trax to the planetarium (riding on Trax is a treat for the boys in and of itself and we can get on it literally one block down the hill from my parents' condo). I wasn't so sure about the planetarium at first. There didn't seem to be as much to do as there should be, but the boys had a blast. They spent a lot of time on this "Newton's Sculpture" thingy, where these big balls and little balls orbitted around the ceiling and inside a glass 2-story wall. They could manipulate the balls with knobs on the outside of the glass and make the balls hit stuff inside the glass to make noises/music. Hard to 'splain. I was bored with it, but they could have played with it allthelivelongday. I decided to splurge and we watched the 3D IMAX Under the Sea. They're favorite part of the movie was the popcorn. We spent some time at Liberty Park where they have a splashpad now (maybe they had it last time and i didn't notice?). We drove up to Ogden and spent the afternoon with the Zeke, Bode's long-lost best buddy from CO. We also took Trax again another day and met Zeke and family at the children's museum, which has yet to disappoint us. We spent a large part of a day at Thanksgiving Point's children's garden. It was a really fun place to explore. Like the planetarium, i wasn't sure about it initially. It seemed really small and not terribly interesting until we just really explored. They had neat hedge mazes. And a lighthouse (where if you're taller than 4 1/2 feet tall you will crack your head on the door on your way out and see stars and wait for your black-out or concussion to occur. So beware). A pond full of waterlilies and fish that we fed. But we spent most of our time in the "outdoor classrooms" where they kids could build with "blocks." Literally just random shaped and sized pieces of wood that they had piled up around tables the kids could build on. Anyway. It ended up being time well-spent. Oh, and the splash area with the Noah's Ark and fountains was fun, too. A little mini-golf in the 100 degree heat (i was dying. And so glad they were quick little golfers). We ate out quite a bit and had lots of ice cream and treats and wore ourselves out. It was great!

Doug came back in the wee hours of Friday morning (he was supposed to get in around 8pm Thursday night, but weather in Denver delayed him). Friday he took the boys to Provo to play at Seven Peaks Water Park (which, by the way, is where Doug and i met ice skating eons ago!). The place was PACKED even when i dropped them off 10 minutes after they opened (it WAS a holiday for a lot of people, so i shouldn't have been so surprised). I was really curious to hear how the boys did since Bode won't go under water and neither are super-comfortable in water. They.did.awesome! They had so much fun. And the areas for the smaller kids weren't so packed as the rest of the place. Bode went down slides into pools over and over and was very proud of himself for going under the water. Keegen had a blast. They all went down the bigger slides together on a 2-man raft. They were there from 11-3:30 and had nothing but really great things to say about it. I was so happy. While they played, i tooled around the BYU Bookstore and then headed to the mall. There wasn't as much to do down there as i'd thought, but i enjoyed my time alone, especially after being the only parent for the week. I had a nice lunch just me and my book at PF Chang's.

I'm getting sketchy again on details, but i think Friday night we went to Doug's Aunt Susan's house for a 4th of July BBQ. Doug's parents drove down from Oregon so it was nice to see everyone. The kids had a great time playing with Doug's cousins' kids and after dark everyone hiked up the hill for the North Salt Lake fireworks show. Saturday?? I don't remember. I was kind of done. Ready to go back home. I think we spent more time with Doug's parents and brother and sister-in-law.

And Sunday was the long drive back home. But it was surprisingly tolerable. The boys did great. I did better than usual ;) We took the route through Wyoming which is usually painful (so brown and boring) but it was fine.

Anywho. TOO MUCH FUN. It was exactly what i wanted it to be. I just wanted to go go go with the boys and that's what we did. I was sure i'd come home and my cervix would be gone and i'd be put on bedrest, but amazingly, i am just dandy. No cervical shortening or funnelling. Yahoo!

The boys have had to adjust to not going non-stop and not getting treats every time they ask! I forgot my camera which i don't think i've ever done before. It's kind of a shame, but it was also kind of freeing. Here's the one and only picture we got. The Pillsbury Doughboy's got nothin' on me.

The End.