September Recap

So here we are at the end of September - Sam has completed 5 weeks of Kindergarten and Annabelle finished her 3rd week of Preschool!  We've been experimenting a bit, trying to figure our how these new school environments and schedules play into our family's daily and weekly routine.  Although we aren't perfect yet, I'd say we are on our way to a much better rhythm than we every achieved last year.  Hooray for that!

What does this routine look like?  So far like this: Mommy's busiest period of the day is 5:30-9:00am.  Its all downhill after that...or at least until the 5:00-7:30 time slot.  I wake up, run, get Sam up around 6:45 and spend the next half hour encouraging breakfast down his throat (I don't care if you're not hungry, no one likes to be around you when you haven't eaten!) while packing lunches/snacks/water bottles/tote bags.  Monday-Thursday Sam gets on the bus at 7:30 (I drive him on Fridays), then I get my coffee, breakfast and a shower.  Annabelle wakes up anytime between 7:00 and 8:00 and she eats and plays while we get ready for our day.  At 8:50 on Wednesdays and Thursdays we leave for Preschool - our other days are lovely and flexible at this point.

We've adjusted Annabelle's nap time, which over the summer had been pushed way back to accommodate Sam's quiet time.  We now aim for a 12:30/1:00 nap, which is helping her line up with the nap schedule at school.  Good news there is that, after 2 weeks of "resting quietly," she is finally learning to sleep on her nap mat!  Sam's naps officially ended with the beginning of Kindergarten.  We still do quiet time occasionally on weekends, but honestly only if it works into our schedule.

Annabelle gets plucked from her bed at 3:15 to go grab Sam from school by 3:30.  We are home by 3:45...for a dicey period.  Sam is generally tired when I pick him up.  He definitely needs down time and a snack when he gets home, but I'm hesitant to put him in front of the TV for a half hour every afternoon.  He does well if we go straight to a park, but the weather is still a bit unpredictable for that to be an every day thing.  We're going to play around a bit here and see what works best for everyone over the next month.  No regular homework yet (hooray!) but he and I do 20 minutes of reading most days.

Some days the kids manage to play nicely together after school - I think they actually miss each other sometimes.  She has finally taken to dressing up when he does, especially if it involves her princess shoes.  I'm not entirely sure how the "under the table" scenario began, but it involved Sam rubbing Annabelle's back and singing her our "nigh-night songs."  

One of my goals for the year was to allow Annabelle to be a bit more on her own sleep schedule, since her sleep has been determined by Sam's schedule most of her life.  It appears that her nap time will still be bound by school schedules - hers and Sam's - so I am extra thankful for the bus.  Walking Sam to the bus rather than driving him allows me to let her sleep/hang in her bed as long as she wants in the morning.  One day recently she chose to play in her bed until 10:10am!  I watched he on the monitor pull various toys into her bed, always careful that some part of her body was touching the bed.  If you look closely in this picture you can see her playing with Elmo and her doll stroller in her bed...

Annabelle and I have been anything but bored while Sam is at school.  On Monday mornings we take an adorable little music class with some friends.  No pictures, I am too busy playing with her to take pictures.  We've taken several long bike rides, she always asks to keep riding when I think we're done.  We've been playing puzzles and princess and reconnected with her great love of art.  She begs constantly to "Play Paint!"  She's been seen standing in front of her easel for up to an hour.
 

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I'm enjoying having a few hours of kid-free time a week.  It has allowed me to be more consistent with my very-part-time bookkeeping job and get several doctors appointments out of the way that I've been putting of for...well...2.5 years.  I even had my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday!  I found this sign at the Gyno's office to be particularly amusing.  I've accomplished some kid-free shopping a lunch with some moms from the elementary school!

The schedule has also allowed me to treat each kid one-on-one.  Last week I was able to meet Sam for lunch while Annabelle was at school, and his eyes lit up when he saw a whole "cheesy peesy pizza" rather than a happy meal!  And this week, since she napped on her mat two days in a row, Annabelle and I treated ourselves to some pumpkin treats.  Cookies for her, latte for me!  True story: she saved part of her cookie to share with Sam.

Although Sam is back in Soccer, there has been plenty of play time on the weekends, too.  We are slowly growing our list of "play date friends" in our immediate area, which is nice for all of us.  We've also squeezed in some family outings, including a morning at the park with our community group and an afternoon kids concert at church.  

I cannot leave out the fact that Chris has had a month of transition as well.  He's been settling back into his old/new job quite nicely. He and I made a point to celebrate the grown-up transition in grown-up style with a date to our favorite steak house.  Mmmmmmmm!!!

I think this is going to be a good year for all of us.  It will be a full year, but from the looks of things, they're only going to get more and more so for the next...15 years.  A full year, but a manageable year.  As I was telling a friend the other day, I feel like I'm leaving the trenches of "baby world" and entering some prime "kid years."  And I'm really excited about it!

Her First Day!

My Baby Girl (that's actually what I've taken to calling her these days - Baby Girl.  Only sometimes does she inform me that "I not a baby!") went to preschool this week!  And you know what, it wasn't hard on either of us - not one little bit. 

I will be the first to admit that after 2.5 years with her as my every-present side kick, this mama is very much looking forward to 10 kid-free hours a week.  "You're going to be all alone with no one to play with!" mocked my son.  Umm...I've got plenty to do to fill my time, don't you worry.  Want to know how I spent my first kid-free day?  At a 2 hour PTA meeting and the Gyno.  Par-tay!  Ok, so I did manage to meet Chris for lunch in between, but you get the idea...

But my desire for kid-free time is not what made it so easy for me to drop my baby off this week.  First, this was not a new school environment for either of us.  She is around the corner from Sam's pre-k classroom, she is beyond comfortable in the building and the director already knows her/us.  She has great teachers this year.  Second, she wanted to go SO BADLY.  All summer long Sam and I pointed out to her and talked to her about "her preschool."  She began to comprehend that "Sam has a go kinagawden, I have a go pwe-schoow."  And now she points to the building when we drive past, labeling it as "my pwe-schoow."  She was craving the social interaction, crafts, singing, etc that come with a preschool environment.  And heaven forbid her brother get to go to school all week and she be stuck at home with mommy every day!

So day 1 arrived, and was marked with our new family tradition of Sprinkle Pancakes for breakfast.  She was happy and cooperative for picture taking, excited for her turn to hold the sign.  As we were walking in to the building, as I held her hand, carried a purse, tote bag, nap mat and 2 bags of "school supplies" she cautioned me to, "be carfuw my pit-ture!  Two hands!"  She was quite concerned I'd drop the sign before she'd had all of her pictures taken!

And after the last picture was taken and the glass doors were opened, she marched right in.  She did not, as I'd anticipated, march to Sam's old room out of habit!  She found her room (we'd been there for "meet the teacher") and said hi to her teacher.  I began to sign her in and deposit her water, lunch and snack in the appropriate bins.  When I turned around, she was gone.  Didn't give a kiss, hug or even say goodbye.  I peeked into the room to find her happily examining toys and playing with the other teacher.  I called to her to say goodbye, got a smile back...and that was that.  And I left.

5 hours later I collected a happy, although tired (still learning to nap on her nap mat) girl.  I asked some questions about her day and got more out of her than I anticipated.  Later that night, after nap and dinner, Chris asked one question and the girl started spilling all kinds of information on us.  Honestly, we didn't get that much about Sam's collective days at preschool out of him for the first two months he attended.

"I go pwe-schoow, it's my fiwst day!  I paint.  Miss Kim help me.  Its yewow.  I nap my nap mat.  I Pway bwocks!  I go back my bwocks lwader..."

I cannot wait to see how she blossoms this year.  Her little personality is getting goofier each day, and I love it.  Her teachers have said that she has been quiet so far, but I know that will change soon!

Bonus picture: Start a new job at the beginning of the school year and your wife makes you take a picture, too!