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Baby Blogger
DEPH
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8/28/2008 3:49:35 PM
As a special treat today (I told him it was for being a good big boy at school but we really would have gone anyway), Victor & I met up with Lori & Livie for brunch and a park date. Once Victor got past his hungry grumpies, he was so happy to be with his favorite girl. I think he really enjoys being with someone who makes him feel so at ease. It's been stressful meeting a bunch of new people this week!
Anyway, there were so many sweet smiles between the two pals today that there was no avoiding a montage:
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8/28/2008 8:35:00 AM
Well hey, today seemed maybe a little better. As suspected, Victor started to fret the moment I put his Medic Alert bracelet on. He knows what that means. He very willingly went into the car but with a look of excessive worry on his face. But we got over there and he walked at his usual pace and even opened the door to the classroom to walk right in. He cried once we got in there but he wasn't nearly as clingy and was just kinda walking around and doing his half cry. So he's definitely still working out his misgivings about school but he's starting to get with the program a little more. I described his more independent behavior this morning as "bravery" but James prefers to just refer to it as "acceptance". Which may be more accurate, really. | |
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8/27/2008 6:53:15 AM
Dropoffs are getting a little harder each day. Yesterday, Victor was happy while we walked across the street and happy while we walked into the building and happy while we walked down the hall but horrified the moment we stepped into the classroom. Full-on leg clinging and crying. So we had to just leave him there wailing in his teacher's arms while we skulked away. She said he calmed down fairly quickly though.
Today, he started crying as soon as we parked the car (we've started driving over to the crosswalk and parking on a side street there). He held our hands and walked like a big boy but he was fighting tears the whole time. And of course, it all broke loose when we got into the classroom. We're guessing that tomorrow he'll burst into tears the moment we tell him to put his shoes on. | |
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8/25/2008 8:20:00 PM
OK, well, I don't think my son takes naps anymore as a general rule. I'm getting more and more comfortable with this (I sure wasn't a week ago!) because he goes to sleep so quickly at night this way. That's much more peaceful for all of us because when he naps in the afternoon, he usually won't fall asleep until after 10:00. Napless? Well, tonight he was sound asleep by 7:45. And luckily he's a really good sleeper once he actually goes to sleep so I think he actually gets more overall rest this way. He's still so clumsy and a bit punchy in the afternoons without a nap but I guess we'll all work through it if this is how things work now. I am still enforcing "an hour in bed" every afternoon though. I'd like to say that it's quiet time but it's sure not one bit quiet. He's content, for the most part, and he's chilling out alone but there's usually singing and/or animated yelling involved.
I should clarify that he is not by any means asking to go to bed at 7:30. In fact, he seems pretty offended at the suggestion, to the point of kicking and screaming, but he calms down by pajama time. Usually. No one was surprised that he fell asleep so quickly tonight though. It was a BIG day. Not only did he have his first day of school but he also had two hours of therapy immediately afterwards. He was definitely dragging toward the end (especially when he had to do his puzzle work in the dreaded net swing) but he really hung in there and impressed us all.
So yeah, how was it, eh? Well, school seemed to be a success overall. He was so happy to get in the classroom and find his favorite toy that he could not be bothered to say goodbye. This made things somewhat easier on us (although James still had to console me as I wept for the walk out of the building) but I did fear that it may have made it more traumatizing for him. Ms. Janie, his teacher's aide, said that he cried about 2 minutes after we left but that they were able to get him back on track fairly easily. He looked fine when he went out to the playscape at 9:00 (I was spying from half a block away). A little skittish but not weepy, at least. Victor, I mean.
The only disconcerting thing was that when I went to pick Victor up (10 minutes early since we had to dash off to therapy), he was standing at the sink shooting water everywhere. On the one hand, there's just one teacher and one aide for that whole classroom and I don't know that anything could really have been done. And it's the first day so I'm not rushing to judgment. I just really want to be sure that he's being corrected and redirected when necessary, especially with repetitive and ritualistic behaviors. But there's the other part of me that thought "Well, at least he found something he liked!". He was soaking wet but smiling from ear to ear. And yes, very happy to see me! I guess it goes without saying that the feeling was quite mutual. | |
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8/25/2008 7:09:54 AM
Victor is at school and the house is quiet. And yes, I cried. He has probably cried by now too but he was happily busy when we left him there:
The walk over was a lot longer than we expected. It's just a block away, less really, but we had to walk all the way down to the crosswalk and that added a whole 5 minutes. Driving over and parking looked even worse though.
Once we got in the school, Victor wanted to see the fish, of course:
But we had to skedaddle him down the hallway to his classroom:
Once he caught a glimpse of the pre-K/kindergarten common area though, he was in a sprint and it took some gentle wrangling from Daddy to get him into the classroom:
I think he'll do fine. 2 1/2 hours to go. Deep breaths.
(Note: the time stamp is still an hour off. Victor did not go to school at 6:45. Maybe James could pull that off but neither Victor nor myself could come close.) | |
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8/24/2008 7:17:16 PM
Was there any doubt that the circus adventure would involve a montage?
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8/24/2008 1:36:31 PM
After 6 days without a nap, Victor finally broke yesterday afternoon and took a nap. Never mind that it wasn't until almost 4:30! He was beside himself with fatigue so we let him nap even though it's not usually a good idea at that late hour. He was especially exhausted because we had a very special (and tiring) Mommy & Boy day with Ruth & John. Kerbey Lane and the circus (and I do mean THE circus, as in Barnum & Bailey) all in one day! I was tired too. (Pictures are still being sorted and compiled.) It was a grand time. Truly.
Today, we opted for something a little more lowkey. We took our farewell trip to Zilker Park to play a bit and ride the Zephyr. One. Last. Time. :( Victor definitely had a lot of fun since outdoor time has been somewhat limited this week (but you won't catch us complaining about the much-needed rain!). Here are some moments from the last Zephyr ride. For a while, anyway..............
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8/21/2008 9:42:25 PM
Tonight we had the Back to School "Picnic" (that term was used very loosely, in my opinion) across the street at Victor's school and he was so excited to get into the building so that he could show Daddy the aquarium and then hussle him down the hall to his classroom. James was left with a pretty favorable/optimistic opinion, much like I was a few days ago. Now we'll just have to see how it goes on Monday.
Victor and I read "The Kissing Hand" for the first time maybe close to a week ago in an attempt to help him with the transition to school and the concept that Mommy is still looking out for him even when he's at school (not that I'll be driving around the block repeatedly or anything, nooooo, of course not). It has quickly become one of his very favorite books and he loves to very dramatically say the title and present it to me for storytime. Here's his favorite page:
(He definitely has taken that new toys to play with part to heart.)
And here's the page that still makes me cry 80% of the times that I read it:
(Yeah, I think that is a possum.)
My boy is going to school. Allegedly. | |
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8/19/2008 12:04:19 PM
After a few rough days around here, there is a lot of cautious optimism all of a sudden. The house in under contract. We're not letting ourselves get entirely excited yet but it's hard not to be equal parts thrilled and terrified when we might be moving in 3 weeks. Yeah, you heard me right. If this deal really comes to fruition, I will at least be freed up a bit for packing the house.
Any why? Well, because Victor starts school on Monday. We've gone back and forth and back and forth for many days now about whether or not to bother starting him here but I believe that we will, especially after this morning's developments. Victor & I just went over to school (it's just a block away!) to turn his Epipens in to the school nurse and while there, I asked the clerks where his classroom was and if it would be OK to wander back there.
It was like he knew exactly where he was going. I think he could feel the aura of the toys or something. At any rate, he ran into that room like he was just meant to be there. And trust me, it's not the most exotic place I've ever seen. He was right at home though. We even got to meet the teacher aides and his teacher, Miss Christy! While he didn't exactly go overboard with warm greetings, he didn't recoil in horror upon meeting them so I was mightily encouraged.
I'm really glad that we've gone over there several times now just to walk around the halls and see the aquarium because he definitely feels like it's an OK place to go now. I do realize that he's probably going to feel a lot differently when there are other kids in the classroom (there will almost certainly be some whining and clinging) but I feel pretty good about how well he might do come Monday. Doesn't mean I won't cry though!
Also, it's been raining today. A lot. Finally. And Victor slept late. Things are looking up. | |
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