Growing and adjusting

Hey! It's 5 AM—are you still sleeping??? Slacker. We "hard core" moms have been up since 2:45. OK, so I got up at 2:45, changed a very poopy diaper from a baby who hadn't pooped for 2 days, and climbed hopefully back in bed… But an hour or so of snoring confirmed that it was not to be. So I took a hot bath, did some reading, and now I'm here to chat with you. And I'm pretty sure I'm at my wittiest first thing in the morning.

Aren't you glad?

So the first 5 days of kindergarten are officially behind us. Lamb seems to be enjoying it quite well, with one major (to a 5-year-old) exception: lunch. She doesn't like places with a lot of background "static"—she even gets frustrated in our minivan when we're talking while we have the A/C on high. And her school cafeteria doubles as the school gym, so you can imagine the acoustics in there. Add to that 100 or so kindergarteners, plus the "big kids" who are already in there before her, and she's not starting off on good footing. Also, her class lines up in their classroom, walks to the cafeteria, then sits in the order of the line. Does that make sense? So she has lunch with whoever was next to her in line. For some reason, she cannot figure out to try to line up with her friends, and she has subsequently had a couple of lonely lunches next to (according to her) boys who won't talk to her.

I say "so" a lot.

Anyway, after she came home heartbroken on Wednesday from not having anyone to talk to at lunch—and not being able to buy dessert, which is a whole other story—I decided it was time for Mommy to visit at lunchtime. I have to say, I love that her school has an open-to-parents-lunch-policy. I can go in and have lunch with her any time. It was so fun to see her at school, happy happy happy. And she was genuinely excited to have me there, too. J I talked to her a little bit about trying to stand in line with her friends (without breaking any rules or getting herself—or anyone else—in trouble), and about the fact that everyone has days where they don't get to sit by their friends at lunch, but that's OK because you get to see them at recess. And then we had a slushie together. Yes, her school has a slushie machine. How cool is that??? It was a fun little adventure for me.

Our only other little hiccup has been the bus. I debated and toiled and agonized over whether or not to send her on the bus, and finally realized that I personally had no qualms about her riding the bus—my issues came from seeing other moms drive their kids to school and worrying that they would judge me if I didn't. Not a healthy decision-making place. So I decided to put her on the bus. Well, let me tell you, it has been a crazy experience. I won't go into it all here, but the final straw came when the bus forgot our stop—which consists of three neighborhood kids—and the older boys told me when they (finally) got home that the bus driver had been distracted because the kids on the bus were so out of control. This was not the first time they had mentioned the bad behavior on the bus, and it's only the second week of school people! So Lamby won't be taking the bus for a while. (And remember, this was just the last straw, not the only issue.) Fortunately, our wonderful neighbor & friend has two little girls at our school and has been taking AND picking up Lamb so far. I really want to coordinate schedules so that I can do some of the driving, but it has been heavenly not having to worry about taking the boys to the bus stop or wondering how far the monitor will reach as I walk to the bus stop or anything like that.

So that's kindergarten.

Monkey is missing his big sister something fierce, but he hasn't had a whole lot of time to worry about it. On Tuesday we were able to start his preschool curriculum and spend some time together, but then we went to MOPS, ran errands, ate lunch, took naps, and Lamb was home. Wednesday we were gone all day. And yesterday I spent the morning on the phone—not on purpose, but it was just ringing off the hook—and then took the boys to a friend's house so that I could have my lunch with Lamb. Today I promised him that we would make a trip to Lowe's to get a new lightbulb for his nightlight, a special bulb that Wal-Mart doesn't carry. Exciting times. Next week we'll be home more, spend more time together & working on preschool, and work on getting Roo into more of a routine. Right? It sounds good, anyway.

Roo is doing great. He is so cute and sweet and happy, I've had several friends and nursery workers at church threaten to keep him. J I just smile and tell them that they might change their minds at 4 AM, which is when he thinks the day should start. Yep, he's an early riser. And a cat napper. Have I told you all that sleep is one of my "hot button" issues? I have to make sure my kids get the rest they need—good naps, early bedtimes, etc. This kid is my sleep nemesis. I do not know what to do with him. ANYWAY, everything else with him is going well. I had a chance to read a messageboard the other day where moms of kids with Down syndrome were discussing their children's developmental milestones. I actually had to stop and smile when I realized that it fascinated rather than saddened me. I have heard at least a zillion times that there is a huge range of ability/capability within the "Down's spectrum", but it was really interesting to actually see it from child to child. One three-year-old had almost no motor delays, but still only said a few words; another two-and-a-half year old could talk and sing with the best of 'em, but still isn't walking. It really was a confirmation that Roo is… Roo. He's going to do things when it's the right time for him. Yes, we of course want to provide him with every therapy and opportunity that we can, but there's no schedule, no pressure. He is his own unique little guy. I can take a deep breath and not worry about whether he's measuring up or whether he'll be walking by the time he's two or whether… whatever. It's going to be what it's going to be. And he's going to be darn cute every step of the way.

I feel like my last several posts have been general updates. Now that Lamb is in school and things are theoretically settling down, I plan to post more so I can be a bit more "nitty gritty" with you all. I'm reading some really interesting books (yes, plural, I have never been able to just read one book a time…) and have lots of insights and nuggets I want to share with you. For now, have a great day. I can't say that I love getting up so early, but it does help me to get a lot more done in a day. ;-)