Friends

I have always said that I very badly want Brian and Lilah to be friends above all else.  I want them to love each other, to look out for each other, and to turn to each other when life gets tough.  It's awesome to see how close they really are. 

I mean sure they bicker...especially in the car.  They can make me crazy "trolling" each other as Shawn calls it.  They are very different in most ways. They are, however, both ridiculously stubborn.  They come by this honestly. 

BUT, they also adore each other.  They play well together, comfort each other and laugh hysterically with each other.  They hold hands!  Some days Brian says he's going to marry Lilah :)   They melt my heart with their friendship.

I always try to take some fall pictures of these two sweeties and this year has been no different.  Lilah is getting into posing, so it's a little more difficult than it used to be, but we got a few...

Brian Goes to Kindergarten

My all time favorite book growing up was Mumpsy Goes to Kindergarten.  It was my grandmother's book and she read it to me every time I stayed with her until I was able to read it to her.  The tradition continued well into my junior high years.  The book now sits in my curio cabinet with Pinky...my doll from my grandparents house.  A reminder of my childhood and my wonderful grandparents.

Last week, my baby boy went to Kindergarten.  Mumpsy was a scared little kitten, unsure of what Kindergarten would bring.  Brian wasn't scared a bit.  He was ready and excited to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Harrington, the week before at Readifest.  He was ready and excited to start this new adventure Wednesday morning.

We have become quite close with the neighborhood girls over the summer, so we started our morning by seeing them off on their bus to their first day of school.  We then started our car ride to Ryland.  Brian doesn't go to our neighborhood school for two reasons.  First, the school he attends in three minutes from my work.  Second, our neighborhood school is big.  Really big.  And we knew he would be more comfortable in the smaller setting Ryland offers.

Brian and Lilah were super excited to see the hot air balloon out in front of school when we arrived (a first day of school tradition)!  Brian tolerated my picture taking, but you can see from this series of pictures, he really just wanted to get inside his classroom!

I thought I would cry for sure.  I mean, he's my BABY!  But he didn't cry.  He didn't look back.  So, you know what?  I didn't cry either.  If he's okay, I'm okay!

Lilah was another story.  She cried and said, "we NO leave my Brian boy!"  Poor little thing.  She's not taking this back to school thing so well.  Even a solo trip to the zoo with mom and dad didn't do the trick.  Every day last week she asked me, "I go to school too?"  I told her she has to be three and potty trained.  Guess who had only 3 potty accidents in the three days that Brian went off to school without her?  She really doesn't want to miss out on anything!  And she really misses her buddy.

Days two and three were much the same as far as Brian adjusting to Kindergarten.  As in, there was no adjustment.  He loves it!  He was super excited to tell me about the gingerbread man hunt they had on Day 2.  He even created a hunt for me when we got home and reset it for Shawn to do when he got home.  Days 2 and 3 meant I couldn't walk him to his classroom anymore.  He had to hop out of the car in the drop off loop.  Brian didn't bat an eye.  I may have shed a tear or two the first time.  Would he find his classroom?  Would he be scared?  Yes and of course not!  He's got it under control.

He told me that his favorite part of the day on Friday was SCHOOL!  I also found out from another mom whose kiddo is having a rough time, that she witnessed Brian telling him, "it's okay, you're going to be fine."  Awww!  And his teacher sent me a note to let me know that he is SO SWEET!  LOVE!

Brian's Progress and Running in Circles

Before Christmas we met with Brian's teachers to discuss his IEP.  We knew it was going to be a good meeting because his teacher kept saying how well he was doing.  We could tell too.  He was coming home each week telling us all about what they were doing in school.  He has learned most of the alphabet since school began this past fall-how to recognize the letters, phonetic sounds and how to write them. 

We found out at the meeting that he had surpassed all of his IEP goals. These goals were supposed to last him until May of this school year.  We wrote new goals at the meeting and found out that he has been released from occupational therapy at school.  The therapist at the meeting said (and I am paraphrasing obviously to some extent), he was supposed to be working on pre writing shapes according to his goals.  Obviously, he has those mastered.  I came into today to check and make sure he could still do those and he did.  Then he drew a Christmas tree for me.  Hahahaha!  You go, Brian Thomas!!

We discussed the FM system that was introduced about halfway though the semester.  Based on the data collected by the teacher, he was just as likely to stay on task without the system as he was with the system.  The best news, though?  He does stay on task.  Just like he's supposed to!

Then we talked about next year.  Before Brian was born, we talked about how we would likely hold him back due his birthday and gender.  When he was born with hearing loss, we said we definitely would.  So we have been tossing around how to make this happen, when to do it, etc.  Since he's in state preschool, he can't be held back this year and stay in the public system.  But, as it turns out his teacher said it would be a disservice to Brian to hold him back at this point.  She said he is more than ready for Kindergarten.  She said he is at or above where the other kids in the class are.  Ahhhh!  Great news right?  Well I thought so when I heard it.  But then I realized.  My baby has to go to kindergarten next year!  AHHHHH!!


More on that later, I'm sure.  For now, I will just be happy that he's doing so well.  Progress is a wonderful thing.  A few days after the meeting, I was chatting with one of the classroom aides.  She said that Brian is a leader in the classroom.  That he has about 8 little friends that follow his lead.  Wow!  I'm not sure I thought I would ever hear that.  He has just come leaps and bounds in such a short amount of time.  I couldn't be more proud of him!

Changing gears... for those of you who think a post is not a post without pictures, there are some below.  Brian and Lilah think it is hilarious to run in circles around the kitchen table.  I captured some shots of them doing just that the other night.  I think they are pretty great if I do say so myself!

The Two of Them

Him

Oh my sweet Brian boy.  My first born.  He made me a mommy.  He is so incredibly handsome.  Hi smile can melt me in an instant.   His heart is fierce.  He is brave and he overcomes.  He is tough.  He is compassionate.  He loves to learn, to "read," and to be read to.  He is smart and so very stubborn.  He loves to laugh and to make others laugh.  He loves to sing.  Oh and those big, big galaxy eyes.  He can stare right through you.  He is silly.  He jumps in puddles and loves to be tickled.  He is so, so sensitive and can be very shy.   He is quite creative and loves to "make something."   He is all boy...he loves to run and play.

Her

My sweet baby LuLu.  My baby girl.  She is just so beautiful with her soft red curls and dimples.  She is a precocious little imp.  She is outgoing and happy.  She is funny and she enjoys it.  Her little voice makes me smile.  She is tough.  She loves to cuddle. She loves to be read to just like him.  She loves her babies and all of his toys!  She loves to shop and she loves shoes.  She is my sleeper and my eater.  It's hard to find a food she will not try.  Her big, blue, dazzling eyes and easy smile make me smile.  Just watching her figure things out makes me smile.  She has a whole heck of a lot of attitude and boy is she stubborn.

The Two of Them

Watching the two of them together is absolutely amazing.  I love when they make each other laugh.  I love when he tries to explain things to her.  I love that she wants to be big like him.  I love when they talk to each other.  Especially when they "argue."   She just keeps saying "yeah" to make him mad and he'll shout, "no, Lilah, no!"  too funny.  I love when they read together.  I love when one of them is upset or hurt and they other is concerned and wants to fix it.  I love it when someone captures a picture of the two of them and it's good of them both.  This was what I wanted for Christmas, and I got it!

 Merry Christmas!  I hope yours was as full and blessed as ours.  Now LET IT SNOW!

A Random Post with Pictures

Last week we had our monthly dinner night and baby Ava, the newest addition to our group of friends, made her dinner night debut!  We snapped pictures of course.  Brian and Addison had to make sure to get me to take plenty of pictures of them too!

With the beautiful weather this weekend, we spent a lot of time outside.  We went to a "Hopebox Derby" on Saturday.  The cars were neat, but the bounce houses had Brian's attention.  We didn't stay very long because it was really, really muddy! 

Saturday morning at Lilah's swim lesson, the teacher decided to move her up from "Water Babies" to "Toddle One."  She really loves the water and has picked up on all the skills easily.  I was glad to make the move because I think she's ready and it's a half hour later...more sleep!!

Sunday we went to an airplane exhibit.  Brian liked getting in the planes and emergency vehicles.  Lilah liked  being outside! 

Last night we cooked dinner for the family.  Brian decided Lilah was bored in her booster seat, so he ran and got paper and crayons for them to color with.  He's a good big brother.

Before dinner they were snacking on goldfish and hamming it up on the stairs for me.

And speaking of a ham.  This child is definitely our ham...

School seems to be going well for Brian.  He did have a relatively large fit on Thursday when it was time to get on the bus, but that had more to due with the fact that I took his I Pad away.  Mean Mommy.  Won't let him take his I Pad to school!  The driver said he stopped crying as soon as they pulled out of my work parking lot.  Of course I felt like the worst mom ever for the next several hours.  It's so funny.  I RUN a preschool.  I have seen kids act that way numerous times, but I can't handle it when it's my own kid. 

He comes home daily with a report on what he made and what he ate.  It's way more information than I got out of him last year, and I am very grateful for that.  We are starting our normal routine this week, so we don't have to be at my work until about 10:30.  Miss Lilah gets to sleep in and we all get some time at home before we start the day! 

It's a big week.  Shawn's birthday is Wednesday and Dad's retirement party is tomorrow night!