This week in Kindergarten

David had his first school picture day. He is not one who loves having pictures taken so we prepped him and talked about it beforehand. I let him know what was up, what would happen and that I really needed him to give a great smile for the camera. He came home telling me it was super easy and he used his best smile. :)

They focused on letters K, L, M, N and O this week in reading and learned a shape poem in Math...

Shapes Poem:

Solid shapes are fat not flat.

A cone is like a party hat.

A sphere is like a bouncy ball.

A prism is like a building tall.

A cylinder is like a can of pop.

A cube is like the dice you drop.

Solid shapes are here and there.

Solid shapes are everywhere.

Last week's playground races have established a set pecking order in David's group of friends. He falls right in the middle of the 3 of them with his little friend, A, being faster and, N, being slightly slower. David knows this; He respects this. He sounds very much like a grown man when talking about his friends now. He gets that his one friend could challenge him at any time and whoop him. He talks about this friend with a little bit of awe. He also understands that his other little friend is a little smaller and a little slower. He's very sensitive to this and really tries not to hurt his feelings. 

Before grocery shopping this week, David was asked what he'd like for me to buy to pack in his lunch. He said hard boiled "dinosaur" eggs, cherry tomatoes, ants on a log and PB sandwiches. He says these things make his tummy feel best and help him not be hungry later. I am SO stinkin' proud of my boy and his healthy choices. Very grown up for a 5 year old, I feel.

They practiced fire drills. David said the alarm was so loud and they just had to "get out SO fast and keep going, going, going until Mrs. H got them all to the grass". He was very serious. It greatly impacted his Thursday. I didn't hear about anything else that day.

Gangsta boy

Sometimes you just feel a little gangsta and you need your hat sideways, ya know?

Banana tattoos

Dave, last night while I was packing lunches: "What are you doing?!?!"

Me: "Putting temporary tattoos on these bananas and making our kid the talk of tomorrow's lunch room. No biggie." 

David was pumped this morning when he saw them and told me I'm the best mom ever. Max started begging to eat lunch immediately following breakfast. Mission accomplished. :)

Finishing touches

We're still busy wrapping up loose ends and putting finishing touches on things for little Kira's arrival. The latest project was a Pinterest inspired hair clip and headband holder. We took an old frame we'd had laying around and added ribbon strips for the clips and barrettes and screw in hooks on the bottom for hanging headbands. Ah-dorable! We've got it hanging just outside the closet so see can see all her options when getting dressed. ;)

 

We also pulled our infant car seat out of storage for her. It's still sitting in the living room awaiting installation, but we're getting there.

 



 

What's a girl to do when she's forced to use her big brothers' hand-me-down tan and blue plaid car seat? She girlies that junk up with flowers, that's what. Sometimes you have to work with what you're given. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Kindergarten happenings

What a big week in Kindergarten!

 

This week's academic focus was using nursery rhymes already familiar to the kids to introduce the concept of rhyming words, continuing letter recognition and working on being thankful when someone does something kind for us. They even learned a "thank you" saying that they all repeat together to thank the snack person for bringing in snack to share each day.

 

On the more scandalous side, David attended a playground wedding on Tuesday. A little boy from the red table and a little girl from the yellow table realized they ride the same bus home from school so they had to be married. Very big deal.

 

David has truly made a few little friends. He comes home talking about the same 4 kids every day. They are all in his class, most sit by him at lunch and they all play together at recess. Tag, from what I hear, is their favorite game. David also likes to group up with his 2 best boy buddies and have races to see who is best. Macho, manly, boy behavior starts so young. :)

 

The PTO did a small fundraiser this Friday and sold little bags of popcorn for the kids to take home and eat. David bought and brought home 3 bags, one for each Max, Titus and himself. Max very sweetly thanked him and told David he was proud of him for thinking of the boys who had to stay home.

 

I am beginning to feel overwhelmed by school. Everyone told me, nearly promised, that David would be so exhausted and tired from his school day that he'd get home and just crashed. He'd struggle to eat dinner because he was so tired and he'd be begging to go to bed long before the end of the night and I'd have to force him out of bed in the morning. Lies, my friends. Lies. That hasn't happened a single night yet. I dread the hour and a half between picking him up from school and when Dave gets home from work to help out. David is argumentative, rowdy and his bad behavior is off the charts. It quickly works up the other boys and the peaceful home I've worked all day to maintain is shattered, long gone and forgotten. We've tried several different tactics, thinking it's just a more rambunctious  way of showing hunger, exhaustion or a need for attention, but so far nothing has helped. We still ramp up to "Three Ring Circus" level every afternoon. We've even started to struggle in the morning before school too. Hopefully this fades as the school year wears on. I can't keep up like this for long.

He thinks he's big...

"Titus thinks he's a big boy, but really he's a baby. He's such a faker." 

~Max

She has a bed

We're inching closer to Kira's arrival! Just 3 weeks now until my due date! 

Max and I set up her bed today so she has somewhere to sleep when she comes home. I LOVED this cosleeper with Titus and I'm hoping it works out just as well with Miss Kira. 

Max freaked out when I first pulled it out of the closet today...

"We can't let her use this bed, Mama! It's not even pink!!" 

So we dug deep in her closets and pulled out her box of blankets. He picked the pink quilt with squares to cover the plain white sheet and mattress on the bottom and a gray and pink rose covered swaddle wrap to wrap her up in and make her cozy. Such great taste. 

He wasn't thrilled with the look of the empty bed. He wanted to put it back. He says that Kira doesn't need her own bed. He says he'd like her to sleep in his bed so they can cuddle. I had to break his tender little heart and say no to that plan. I tried to explain that babies need their mamas a lot at night time so it might not work out great. She needs to be close to me. He finally gave in {reluctantly} and decided we could leave it set up for her - on one condition. We are to buy her more stuffed animals to sleep with. He's very concerned she'll be sad and lonely if she doesn't have anyone/anything to cuddle at night. We put her 2 kangaroos in there for her and Max decided to share a special Monkey {but not THE Monkey} to make her happy and keep her kangaroos and bed safe until she's born. 

Once Titus heard we were sharing with her, he ran and grabbed his favorite Army guys. I couldn't get him to leave my bed until he had them set up just so for her. She is one blessed little girl. 

Is there an official award for best big brothers ever? I nominate these guys. 

A dinosaur lunch

David and Max are PUMPED today and can't wait for lunch time. It's dinosaur lunch day! 

They have a dinosaur shaped ham and cheddar sandwich, hard boiled "dinosaur" eggs in a grass-like lettuce nest, a pretzel and broccoli "tree", cherry tomato "rocks" and cheetos "dinosaur toes". 

And the whole time I was packing it, I just kept thinking "what the heck do girls eat for lunch??".

Favorite things

Me: "Max, what's your favorite thing to do?"
Max: "Eat nachos and save princesses from bad guys."

36 weeks

36 weeks. 

I had a prenatal appointment today. I've gained 12 pounds, my vitals are solid, Kira is growing well and is healthy. Good news all around. I got the results of last week's group b strep test - negative! I'm in the clear and won't need IV antibiotics during labor. My belly is measuring a week too big, which is better than the last 6 weeks when I've been measuring 2 weeks too big {and no, they don't have my due date wrong!}. 

My OB ordered an ultrasound for 2 weeks from now {38 weeks, Sept 27th} to see how big Kira is. We'll talk about inducing labor then, if needed. She seemed confident that induction wouldn't be necessary and I won't be pregnant to see my due date, Oct 11th. She encouraged me to get my bags packed and the car seat installed just in case. I see no real point since I've never gone into labor naturally before, but I made a packing list for our bags anyway. I'm in no rush to get it done, but it would be a big pain if I were wrong and ended up needing them. 

Monster sandwiches

On the heels of yesterday's monster killing conversation, we made monster sandwiches for lunch today. Max heroically ate his face first so he'd die. His face is all veggies. My plan worked. I feel like an evil genius. 

How to fight monsters

Max gave me a complete rundown on how to defeat different colored monsters this afternoon. Given his record of never losing a monster battle, I'd say he's quite an expert and it's worth a listen.

White monsters are easy peasy. You just bam them.
Blues you have to punch in the face. Really hard.
Purple has to be knifed.
If its orange, you have to get another good guy to fight with you because they are very strong and fast.
With yellows, you have to pull your leg all the way back and then kick them in the foots.
If you ever see a spotted-dotted one, you have to run and get your dad. Those are so tricky and serious.


And now you know. 

"I'm always here for him...."

Titus was crying yesterday. Max, like Max always does, felt bad and wanted to make him "be happy again" so he did silly stuff, made noises and pretended to trip and fall until Titus was giggling and the tears were gone. I told Max he was a good big brother to care about Titus like that. Very sweetly he replied, "Yep, I am. I'm always here for him. I will stay home with him and be with him and not leave....but not forever! I'm going to school when I'm 5. But I'll teach him to be big before I go so he'll be ok." 

Sick

We attempted to potty train Titus this past weekend. That failed miserably when he started running a fever and took 3 naps in a single afternoon. We gave up completely when he threw up the meds we gave him for the fever. Oh well. A few more weeks {or months} in diapers can't hurt. 

Max also woke up sniffy, coughing and sick today. I plan on relying heavily on Disney Jr and lots of naps to get us through this day. David went to school a little sniffy, but not complaining at all. Hopefully he can stay healthy enough to stay in school all week.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 3}

David....
- Is tired. Really tired. He told me he talked to Wyatt, a little boy who sits at the same table in class, and learned that Wyatt rides the bus home from school. I can't get anything else out of him. He's exhausted.
- Ready for a break, but also disappointed that he doesn't have school tomorrow.


Max....
- Got to be my helper today. We went to my OB appointment this morning {35 weeks now!}. He got to pick which level of the parking garage we parked on. My doctor is on level 3, but he prefers to go one level up and park on #4 because its the top level and it's in the sunshine. It also means he gets to help push the buttons as we take the elevator one level down to the right floor.
- Got to listen to Kira's "heart beeps" during the appointment. He imitated the swooshing doppler machine's sound all day.
- Pulled fall/winter clothes out of storage and had lunch with Monga today. School mornings are chilly and the boys needed a jacket or sweatshirt. He is convinced he has all brand new clothes now.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 2}

David...
- Looked more nervous when I dropped him off today, but he didn't cry.
- Couldn't find the boy with the cool shark shirt at recess so he played with 2 other friends instead. They were fun too, but their shirts were not as cool and they weren't quite as fun as the kid from yesterday. They played tag and ran.
- Came home singing the "Mr. Golden Sun" song and retelling the story of Humpty Dumpty.
- Made an owl book called "Look Whoooo's in Kindergarten".
- Very proudly stayed on green on the behavior chart. Very good news. Mom and Dad get a letter sent home to sign if he flips to yellow, red or the dreaded, terrible awful blue.
- More tired tonight than yesterday, but still not exhausted.

Max....
- He did much better without David today, but still needs a lot of attention from me. No tears though!
- Contemplated whether or not his friend, Clara, is a real princess. We've decided yes. Definitely yes.
- Again carried his backpack around and ate lunch out of his lunch box.
- Played with playdough and watched a whole lotta Disney Jr.

Highlights from Kindergarten {Day 1}

David....
- He loves his spot at the yellow table. He was a little disappointed at first to not get a seat at the blue table because that's his favorite color, but yellow turned out to be pretty great.
- His class has 2 pets: a snail and a shark. They named the shark Darko. Sharky was the runner up choice.
- I thought he had gym class on Wednesdays. He says he didn't today, but he did go to a room with a different teacher and they played games and the room smelled like big kids. Pretty sure that's gym class. ;)
- One of his favorite things today was playing on the slide and climbing wall at recess. He played with another little boy and made a friend. He can't remember his name, but he was wearing a shark shirt and that was really cool.
- He came home singing a days of the week song and talking about rhyming words.
- He has 2 snack times, a lunch break and a rest time. My pregnant self is jealous.
- He called both Mongas and Aunt Ashley to tell them about his great first day at school. 

Max...
- Found a tiny back pack and filled it with junk. He carried it around all day pretending to go to school.
- I gave him an old lunchbox to eat lunch out of. That was a big deal.
- He struggled a lot with missing David. Being a younger brother, he has never been on his own. He really has no idea how to play by himself. He's sticking tight to me and needs lots of ideas and encouragement to go play by himself.
- He painted with watercolors, helped me with laundry and dishes and made a trip to Meijer to buy an ice cream surprise for David for doing a good job at school.
- Monkey had a tragic little accident today. Max, Titus and Monkey were fighting invisible bad guys this morning. Monkey tripped over his cape and got caught by a bad guy and bammed with a hammer. So sad. He got hurt really bad and he had a broken leg (just like Max's little friend, Clara, who is in a body cast after breaking her leg). Max called Aunt Ashley (a paramedic) on his toy cell phone that was stashed in his underwear and she took Monkey to the hospital in her ambulance truck and the doctors put a red cast on his legs and tummy. Monkey was then carried around the house on a pillow so nothing would hurt him and no one is allowed to touch him - for almost 4 hours!  

The first day

It's here. The first day of Kindergarten. Wow. Seems like just yesterday that I was changing diapers and recording his first steps. Where did that baby go? 

We met his teacher and dropped off classroom supplies yesterday. He found his locker, nametag and work space at the yellow table. He's sitting next to one other little boy and 4 girls. 

Last night we packed up his lunch {a meat and cheese kabob with crackers, cukes and ranch dip and raspberries} and set out his clothes. He was one proud little dude. 

He was ready and raring to go this morning. He was dressed with shoes on, had eaten breakfast and brushed his teeth and was asking to pack up his lunch box and back pack at 7:40am. And school doesn't start until 8:33! He even begged me to drop him off early. 

saying bye to dad as he leaves for work

one last long hug

An egg, Canadian bacon and cheese english muffin sandwich
for breakfast. 

Ready to go. 

He was totally ok with me not going to school with him. He's very ready to be a big guy. He hopped out of the van in the drop off lane, grabbed his bag, ran right over to his teacher and never looked back. Not a single tear. No panicked or nervous looks. I got my tears out last night. I did much better holding it together this morning. Happiness all around....until we pulled away. Max is missing his buddy. Everything was cool until we pulled out of the drive and left David behind. Max got very quiet then, not a half mile down the road, I heard a sniffle and a teary-eyed, quivery voice say "I think David will be ok today". 

I lost it and the tears started flowin'. He just breaks my heart! My poor guy is torn up about his best friend being gone all day. We've done a lot of special things since dropping David off this morning. It's gotten better and he's adjusting now, but he seems a little lost and unsure of what to do. It will be a hard couple of days until we get used to this. 

A letter to my son

September 3^rd, 2013
Dear David,                                                                                                   

Hey, buddy. Tomorrow is a very big day for you. It’s your very first day of school. We picked out your clothes, you helped make your lunch, we packed your backpack. You’re all set. You were walking pretty tall tonight as we got you ready for your big day.

Tomorrow isn’t just a big deal because you’re meeting new friends and learning new things. It’s also very important because this is the first time you’ll be away from Mama like this. I won’t be there to make sure you eat a good lunch or remind you to wash your hands. You’re a big guy now and you’ll be doing those things for yourself. You’re going to be making your own decisions all day long. Make good choices, buddy.

When I was in school, there was a boy named Terry. Terry didn’t have a lot of friends because he looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Terry didn’t smile very much. He didn’t have anyone to eat lunch with and he never played with anyone else on the playground at recess. Terry never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like Dad and I will remind you. The other kids teased him a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower and he looked very sad. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either. And I never talked to Terry. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.

I still think about Terry. I wonder if he remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play and be my friend he’d still remember me.

 I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. Sometimes those gifts turn out to be our very best friends and sometimes those gifts help us learn and grow. The other kids in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you. So please, buddy, treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.

Buddy, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a part of your heart will hurt a little. Dad and I want you to trust that heart ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying to you, David, help! One of my children is hurting! Do something to help! 

Whenever you feel compassion you should be SO happy! It means God is talking to you, and that is wonderful. It means He is trying to use you to do good things. Sometimes compassion will make you want to act right away. It might lead you to tell a teaser to “Stop it!” or say “That’s not kind” and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might help someone pick up their things or carry their lunchbox if they are feeling sad or having a bad day. These things could be hard to do, but you can do hard things.

Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t do something right away and that’s okay, too. You might choose to tell your teacher or other big person at school or tell us. Sometimes, that’s the best choice. Asking for help for someone who is hurting or being picked on is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, buddy. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion for them, please do something. Remember, that is God whispering to you. I really wish I hadn’t ignored God when He whispered to me about Terry at my school. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. It seemed too scary to talk to a new friend so I didn’t do anything. I wish I had. Terry could have used a friend and I could have too.

David, Dad and I don’t care – at all - if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest kid in your class. There will be lots of contests at school and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or coolest backpack. We don’t send you to school to be the best; We would be SO proud if you did all those things, but it’s not what’s most important to us. We want to see you make good choices and do what pleases God.

Dad and I thought about homeschooling you instead. You’re a great kid and we know you’d end up super smart and awesome either way, but we chose to send you to public school this year. God calls us to be a light, His light, in a dark place. We think you can do a great job of that at school. By showing compassion and being a good friend even when it’s hard, you’re shining Jesus’ light at your school. Don’t try to be the best this year, honey. Just try everyday to show compassion and love to your classmates. That’s all that Dad and I could ask for.

I love you so very much. Nothing will ever change that.

 

Love,

Mama

 

 

 

{The idea for "The Talk" from this mama}