Quoted & Noted

If you're wondering what our day was like, Connor has summed it up for you.

"Mommy is at work, and Daddy is at the big-kids school," he says in his serious voice. "And Grammy and Pappy came over here to play and watch babies! Aunt Kelly, too, but only for 10 minutes!"

That's what he told me when I asked him about his day tonight before bed. Though he fibbed a little, because Aunt Kelly was here for a few hours. Grammy had also mentioned that he said the first part to her earlier in the day, about Mommy being at work and Daddy being at the big-kids school. That part, at least, was true. I did work, and Josh's EMT class is on Saturdays. Sort of a big-kids school, I guess.

If you haven't noticed, Connor is a bit obsessed with school lately. We count down the nights he has left before he goes back to preschool (both before it started and now between the days when he actually goes). And when we drive past a couple of "big-kids schools" in our daily routine, he always thinks he's ready to go there, too.

"I go there when I get a little bit bigger. I go to the big-kids school and I ride the school bus!"

Let's hope he's always this excited about school, though I highly doubt it. He may be like our cousin Jason, who Pappy likes to tell on. He apparently went to the first day of kindergarten and told the teachers that he had learned enough and he was quitting!

Photo Flashback

Who's ready to eat? Little man Xander. (September 19, 2006)

Little Moments

One of the things I wasn't really looking forward to about Connor's first day of school yesterday was that mandatory parent meeting that started 15 minutes after we dropped him off with his new class. Not because I don't like coffee and doughnuts (well, the doughnuts anyway). But because I knew I would have the twins with me.

And I knew they would have to be unrestrained. Waiting. In an unfamiliar room that was alternately quiet and loud. Being expected to sit still, or, at the very least, not dancing across the room in circles. Having to be quiet while the director went over the policies and procedures. In short, having to do something that they generally don't like to do and don't do very well. So, yeah, no doughnuts after all.

But, despite that, I was a little bit surprised and impressed.

Yes, there was some inappropriate jabbering and spelling during the director's speech. Yes, there was some unrestrained dancing, though it was limited to distracting only the four people sitting in our small corner. There was even some random kicking, by Xander, who was laying down on one of the seats and who couldn't stop kicking the person who had the misfortune to sit closest to us. It was what it was.

But there was a little moment, among all of the others, that stood out. The grandmother of one of Connor's classmates from last year was sitting across from us. She kept smiling and trying to engage the boys in little waves or grins. Sawyer was too busy bouncing on my lap and slapping his hands onto mine to be bothered. But Xander, he noticed.

And more than that, he engaged. He would watch her, flashing a big grin after she smiled at him. Eventually, it escalated to him hiding behind my shoulder and peeking his head out to look at her, expecting her to still be there smiling at him (which she, of course, was because who can resist my mischievous little devil when he's being so cute?) It lasted for the last five minutes of the program.

Engagement. Spontaneous and unforced interaction. Prolonged contact. All with a big smile on his face. That little moment made up for all the rest, for all the worries about how they would do in the situation, how I would manage them both on my own without restraints, and whether or not we could make it through the whole program without having to leave. It was so worth it.

Sometimes I worry that we're overlooking Xander. His delays are not the same as his brother's. It seems more a reluctance, a stubbornness that keeps him quiet. He knows language. He has words and even phrases. He can be consistent and appropriate, when he chooses to be. And though his social skills are not what you would call typical for his age, they are much more present than this brother's.

And it's these little moments, that are happening more and more often of late, that reassure us. It makes us hopeful that his path will not be the same, will not be quite as difficult as the one his brother will have. They're both moving forward, of course, which is all that matters. Each one of our boys, coming along in their own time and their own way.

First Day, FINALLY!

It was a really, REALLY, long time in coming, at least as far as Connor was concerned. But today was his first day back to preschool. He was so excited that he was up with Sawyer, you know, before 7 a.m.!

It was hard to keep him occupied, even after Mommy came downstairs at a much more respectable 8 a.m., because he was so ready to go to school. And we only had 45 minutes to pass by that time. He spent most of it chasing his little brother around on the Lightning McQueen trucks (which I've taken my first moment of peace to banish back upstairs because they're driving me crazy)! He managed to eat a little dry cereal and some strawberry milk, but not much. He's going to be hungry come snack time.

That's another new thing this year. Each classroom has their own way of doing snack time, and last year's class was the snack helper method, where parents bring in a snack for the whole class in rotations (meaning you do it about four times a year). His new classroom is individual snacks, which means we have to pack him something every day that is just for him. He helped me pick out today's snack - Minute Maid fruit punch juice box, club crackers with cheese dip, and chocolate pudding.

I have a feeling this part is going to get old before the school year is out. I kind of prefer the snack helper method, if for no other reason than the kids might be exposed to new kinds of foods than what we do at home all the time. But we'll figure it out. He's at least old enough (and verbal enough) to help me decide what he wants, both when we're grocery shopping and when it's time to pack his snack. That helps more than you can possibly imagine.

So we made it to school and waited in line with everyone else, though at a safe distance down the long hallway. The twins were not terribly excited to be back in the double-stroller in an unfamiliar hallway at Connor's school.

All in all, the boys did well. Connor was nervous and had to be kind of pushed into the room, but he listened as his teacher told him how they are to hang up their bags every day by their name tag and then take their folder out to put it inside the basket on the shelf. He even spoke when she asked him if he thought he could do that, which was an improvement from what Josh said about the open house (you know, where he didn't say a single word to anyone). He still looked uncertain as I backed out of the room, but I wasn't worried. There were toy trucks on the floor, and he was eyeing them pretty hard. He'll come around, just like he always does.

The twins did okay in the hallway, where I had to leave them (the double-stroller has its limits, and it's too big for the classroom door). I had to sign "wait" to Xander a few times, who kept pointing at the latch and wanting to be released from the restraint harness. And then we made our way to another room for the mandatory parent meeting to go over the handbook. It was all pretty standard stuff, especially since Connor was here last year, but we attended anyway.

Once again, we had to leave the stroller outside in the hallway, but this time I had to take the boys in with me. They did okay. We sat near some grandparents of one of Connor's classmates from last year. Both were wiggly and a bit loud, especially Xander who kept spelling words and randomly reciting letters. But they weren't too much of a distraction, I hope. Sawyer sat on my lap for most of it, and was relatively quiet except for a burst or two of his usual jabber and his need to smack my hands with his repeatedly (he desperately needed to both move and have a little sensory moment, apparently).

And then it was time to go home. We had about an hour before they needed to be dropped off at their school. We spent a little time playing, having a light breakfast (still working on getting them to eat their school lunches), and going potty before it was time to load back into the truck.

And so it begins, our new routine. Earlier days, four trips to and from school instead of just two, and a window of peace in the middle for Mommy. It's busy and sometimes chaotic, but it's good to get back into the routine. I think the boys have been missing school, that outside interaction and chance to expand their horizons a little bit. And I know I've been missing a little break in the day!

Book Club for Boys!

Like everything lately, Connor was in a hurry to leave last night for our "Book Club for Boys" meeting. Unfortunately for him, a storm was rolling in about the time we needed to leave. We opted to wait it out for a little bit, much to his displeasure. But we were treated with this amazing view on our drive out into the country, where his friend who was hosting lives.

Last night's theme was children's literary classics. Our host had three books picked out, but we only managed to get through two of them. Little boys tend to have short attention spans, especially around other little boys and the need to play with all those new toys in an unfamiliar house!

Our first book was The Gingerbread Man, which I hadn't read in ages and I'm pretty sure Connor had never read before. It went over extremely well, especially since it ended with our snack of the evening - homemade gingerbread cookies topped with sugar!

The second book was The Three Billy Goats Gruff which we had checked out recently from the library. I read it to the twins a few times, but Connor missed out because it was while he was away at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa. So this one was new to him, too. At the end, the host handed out little hand-held masks for each of the boys so we could recreate the story. One got to be the mean, old troll. The other three boys were the Billy Goats Gruff trying to pass him on the bridge. Two out of four played their part well. The other two, Connor included, were too bashful to play.

And after that the boys went upstairs to play while the mothers had a chance to plan some of the next meetings and to just talk. Connor and I love going to these meetings - they're educational and fun. And a tasty treat is usually involved, too, though I missed out on my part of that last night. You see, the host sent some of the extra cookies home with us at the end of the night, and Connor offered to hold ours while we drove. Guess who ate both of the cookies on the way home.

"You can have a different one later," he told me, already munching on my gingerbread man.

I probably should have seen that coming, huh?