Already after the ladies

How can Dad get mad at touching the TV when this is on?

The middle level

I love the middle level of our crib.  It's that perfect level where I can still lean over and kiss Tyler while he is asleep.  Of course, he only allowed me to enjoy this level for one month!

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Although I lowered the crib this past weekend, I'm so tempted to raise it back and just remove the bumper.  Oh, the decisions!

A proud sister

As a followup to my earlier post, here's how excited Claire was after seeing Grace successfully ride her bike without training wheels for the first time. 

I wish I could say it's always like this in our house!

A new ride

Sunday afternoon, two of the neighborhood girls decided they were going to lose the training wheels on their bikes.  Grace watched them and decided it was her turn as well.  So on Monday, the training wheels came off and frustration set in.  But on Tuesday, we tried again and made more progress.  Then on Wednesday, Grace just hopped on her bike and took off. . .

Good job Grace! We're so proud of you!

Week 2

While Claire was pouting in the garage about going to preschool for the first time this year, Grace was all smiles the second Monday of kindergarten.  A big change from the first day jitters the week before!

First day. Take 2.

Claire's first day of preschool was Monday, August 16.  As every other mother does on this day, I brought out the camera to document the momentous occasion.  I knew Claire was not very excited to be heading back to preschool, but I thought I'd be able to get at least one smile out of her before we hit the road. 

This is the best I got that morning.  And of course, she would only stand in the garage, with Daddy's propel and leaf blower as beautiful background!

Couch play.

While Grace was at school last Thursday, Claire spent a good portion of the morning on the couch watching Little Einsteins and Dora. 

Her eyes may have been transfixed on the TV most of the time, but I did manage to distract her a little. 

Dress up day.

While Grace was in school last week, we stuck close to home most days.  Tyler had a hard time adjusting to the new schedule and skipped his morning nap three days last week.  Fortunately, those days he took a 3-4 hour mid-morning/afternoon nap. 

By the end of the week, we were a little stir crazy because playing outside during the day was not an option with the heat.  So last Friday, Claire decided she would dress up when she found a swimsuit buried in her drawer.  I forgot we had this swimsuit, but she was convinced it was a dance outfit because it had a skirt.  So she wore it all day, even to the bus stop, and had fun posing for me in it.

I asked Claire where her belly was, and she stuck it out as far as she could.  Then she decided it was time to practice her diving skills. . . as if she likes the pool :)

Can't wait to see if Claire is this happy when I drop her off at preschool tomorrow morning. I'm guessing I'll have to pry her off my leg.

Another first day awaits.

While Grace enjoyed her first week of kindergarten, I enjoyed having Claire and Tyler home with me for one last week before preschool starts.  Tyler will not be going to preschool this year, but Claire's first day in the 3 year old class is Monday.  She's signed up to go everyday, but I have a feeling we'll be missing here and there because she's so easy to have at home with me.  She's also the only one who thinks having her picture taken is fun right now.  If I could just get some pictures of Grace like this. . . 

9 months old.

Tyler turned 9 months old on Monday, July 26.  He had his 9 month checkup that day and is growing well.  He is slightly anemic, but that's nothing new with our kids.  Thank goodness Grace was the only child we had to give iron drops to.  Since Tyler turned 9 months old, we've been busy preparing and getting Grace to kindergarten, so once again, I'm tardy in posting about Tyler.  Here is how Tyler has changed since last month:

• About two weeks after his first tooth erupted, the second bottom tooth popped through as well.  He's been much happier since then with no signs of other teeth right now.  
• The day after turning 9 months old, Tyler started crawling.  He had been moving in circles for quite some time and was good at reaching and rolling to get where he wanted, but started moving across the room on July 27.  He is my first child to "army crawl" so his little toes have blisters from using them to push himself forward.  The first few days he was so slow crawling this way, but now he's fast and getting into everything (everything he shouldn't, that is).  So different than the girls.  The girls never seemed to crawl to anything other than their toys!
• Last time I wrote, Tyler was fighting going to sleep at night.  He's been better about going down at night lately and will usually fall asleep between 6-7pm.  He wakes up in the morning around 6am.  As much as I'd like for him to sleep longer in the morning, at least it will not be much of adjustment when school starts next week.  I think we have to be at the bus stop around 7:30am, so we should not have any problems getting up for that in our house.  Tyler consistently takes two naps.  He's usually down for his morning nap between 7:30 and 8:00 and his afternoon nap around 1pm.  Some days he fights going down for naps, but usually gives in and sleeps well.  I'm not looking forward to trying to adjust our nap schedule becasue of school this month!
• I nurse Tyler 4 times a day.  He was eating cereal twice a day, but due to his slightly low iron, we've added a third serving of cereal.  I think the girls were both exclusively eating table food by now, but baby food has been so much easier for us that we're still eating that primarily.  Tyler loves his Cheerios and has enjoyed cut up bananas, so this month I will try to introduce more table food.  
• Tyler still babbles, but pretty much says the same things he's said since he started babbling.  "Ma Ma" is still the most distinctive. 
• Tyler still loves to grab anything and is trying to pull up.  He pulls up to his knees all the time and just starting getting up on his feet.  This past month, we finally lowered his crib to the middle level.
• At his 9 month doctor's appointment, Tyler now weighs 18lb. 5oz. and measures 27 inches. He is in the 13 percentile for weight and the 14 percentile height.  He's still wearing both 6-9 month clothing and 9-12 month clothing. He started wearing size 4 diapers this past month. 

Here's Tyler's 9 month old picture in his onesie.  I took this last week and was amazed he actually stayed on the ottoman long enough for me to snap some pictures.  Of course, right when I was finished, he rolled off and got a little bruise on his nose :)

And we're off.

Off to Kindergarten that is.   I cannot believe this day has come.  For the last two years, we have been watching the older kids on the street walk to and from the bus stop.  Grace has been jealous that they have been able to ride the big yellow bus, but today finally it became her turn. 

We were running a little behind this morning.  Of course, today of all days Tyler did not wake us up at 6am, but rather slept to 6:45am, so we were scrambling just a bit to get out the door. 

We did manage to snap a quick picture before heading down to the bus stop.  I think Grace was still half asleep (maybe we'll have to try again tomorrow for that smiling, "I'm excited to go to school" first day picture). 

Although I felt as if were running late, we made it to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare.  We first got a picture of all the kindergarten girls riding the bus this morning. 

The kindergarten girls have to wear this big yellow sheet on their backpacks to make sure everyone knows which bus they belong on.

Grace and her friend and neighbor, Laura, see the bus coming for the first time.

Waiting patiently to get into the long bus line.  There are a LARGE number of kids at our bus stop (and I'm sure some were missing today as some parents drive their kids on the first day).

Getting close to the door.

Goodbye Grace. . . have a wonderful first day at school!

I have become "that" parent.

Grace starts kindergarten on Monday.  And as I type this, I have tears in my eyes about it.  I wish I could say all the tears are because I don't want to send my oldest to elementary school for the first time.  But let's face it, Grace and I have been ready for this day for quite some time.  I love her dearly, but we butt heads constantly (sound familiar, Mom?). 

So the reason for my lack of blogging this week is because we've been a little distracted by starting kindergarten.  We got the infamous teacher assignment card last Saturday morning.  Just like I knew Tyler was a boy before the ultrasound, I had a feeling Grace was going to get the one teacher that I had heard a lot of negative about. . . and she did.  So for days, most of the comments I heard about Grace's teacher were, "she harsh, not structured, has no patience, yells at the children," etc.  You get the point.  Finally on Wednesday and Thursday, I found two parents that provided some positive feedback, so I was feeling much better about things and thought we're going to be okay.

Parent orientation was Thursday afternoon.  I walked into the class and was actually pleasantly surprised that I did not dislike the teacher.  She may be a little rough, but I thought, "This could be good for Grace."  As I sat there filling out the information form, I started noticing that the room seemed quite empty.  There were parents there, but not very many.  So I started counting the student name tags on the desks and realized there were only 17 students (usually there are at least 20).  Then I saw a mother from Grace's preschool class walk in the room and I immediately knew Grace was in the "inclusion" class.   With Grace's history of speech problems and some socialization issues, this is the last class I wanted her to be in.  So I came home Thursday crying a lot and struggling with what do we do.  Do we talk to an administrator at the school, move her to the local Catholic school, or not do anything at all?  Ultimately, Mike and I decided we would ask to talk to someone to get more information.  Was Grace included in this class randomly or is she considered special needs because she just stopped speech therapy three months ago?

Today we were able to speak to the speech therapist Grace saw last year and she was extremely helpful and seemed to feel bad that Grace was assigned to this class.  She thought our concerns were valid and spoke to the principal for us.  We were told to watch and observe Grace for two weeks in this class and if we still have concerns after that, we are supposed to meet with the principal then. 

I really did not want to be "that" parent.  But when I met with the speech therapist three months ago to try to decide whether Grace should discontinue speech therapy, the speech therapist thought it was time to stop speech because Grace would now be better off in a classroom setting with her peers (i.e, children with comparable or better speech patterns).  Well, it appears that did not happen for us and if I had known then what I do now, I probably would not have opted out of the third year of speech that Grace qualified for.  So I am hopeful the "inclusion" class functions better than I am anticipating and that Grace does not have any setbacks with speech or socialization.  Grace, in particular, has made such strides when it comes to socializing with other kids.  In the last few months, she will actually go to another neighbor's door and ask if they can play.  Before, she would always say that she was scared and make me come with her.  In large groups, she still struggles and I sometimes have to nudge her to play with others rather than sit in a corner by herself, but overall she's improved significantly. 

Right now I am relieved we have a plan.  And I know this weekend I need to focus on Grace and show more excitement over her starting kindergarten.  So tomorrow is a new day.

I can't keep up. . .

. . . with much of anything these days, especially this little guy.