It's been a busy couple of weeks. So many little moments are getting lost in the hectic schedule of starting a new school year and getting the twins settled into kindergarten. Here are some of the bits and pieces from those last few weeks ...
Connor's favorite part of school is recess. He really, really wants to take his lunch to school (just because he wants a cool lunch box, not because he doesn't like the school food). He loves it when he sees our neighbor, his friend P who is a grade ahead of him, in the hallway at school, and he recognizes him. He thinks first grade is hard, and he wishes they got to play more. He likes to tell me about the times when he sees his brothers at school, and what they're doing when he sees them. But you can't believe everything he says, otherwise Sawyer is eating a chicken sandwich every single day, bun first and then the chicken. He cannot wait for fall baseball to start, and asks every single day when his first practice and game will be. He covets an iPad of his own, and in his recent obsession with how much things cost, keeps badgering us about the cost of an iPad and how long it might take him to save up for one. He misses his school friends from last year, but has already made some new ones. He tells funny stories from school, and I have a hard time distinguishing the truth from his imagination. He apparently threw away a school hall pass because it was decorated with scribbles and is not allowed to go to the bathroom ever again (so he says), and he had to walk at recess today because his star was moved two times (meaning he did something wrong twice), but he swears someone moved it the first time just to be mean because he only got in trouble once. He yelled at someone (can't imagine where he might get that from, really). Overall, he is happy and seems to be adjusting well to the new school and the new routine.
Sawyer is spending most of his day in his resource (special education) room. His team is working with him to increase his time in the traditional classroom. When he passes his classmates in the hallway, many of them reach out to give him high-fives as they pass. He has one or two classmates who love to try to play with him, and one little girl in particular who tries to take care of him. Today at recess, she helped push him on the swings and sat down by him on the wall with some bubbles. When she wandered off a little while later, he got up and followed her, pulling her by the hand back to the wall so they could sit back down together. He is initiating interaction and play with a peer, which is simply astounding. He frequently tries to get people to do things for him, but to want a peer just to be with him. That's incredibly rare. He is not incredibly interested in his new communication software on his iPad, and we're afraid we may have to take the games and videos off for a while to get him to use it purposefully. He will not be pleased. He comes home happy, ready for something to eat and drink, and full of hugs. Though I know the days are sometimes long and hard for him, he still smiles and laughs and snuggles when he comes home at the end of the day.
Xander is learning his new routine. He generally has good days at school, though unexpected changes can make the rest of the day a big challenge. One day it was simply changing his shirt because he spilled something on it, another day it was the first visit to a "specials" classroom (art, music, science, etc.). He is busy testing the boundaries of every single person he interacts with, and his aide tells us she keeps him busy and active all day long. He is bringing home all kinds of written work - lots of perfect letters and numbers and words. He's also spelling a lot of new words, which I can only assume is coming from school. I even got him to look at his "sight words" on the classroom newsletter and identify them for me. I was never worried he would not learn them, but I was not sure how willing he would be to answer when you asked him to tell you a specific word. Fingers cautiously crossed that he will keep doing it for us. Most days he comes in and flops himself straight onto his bed. Before he even gets his shoes off or his snack. He eventually makes it back for those important things, but bed is his first choice. Despite that, he usually comes home in a good mood and manages to stay up until bed time.
Those are some of our little moments. I'm sure there are more that I have missed, but it's at least a snapshot of their first week at their brand new school ...
