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!