Back to School 2012

Our back to school this year has been pretty momentous. Harding and Shelby are at a new school together and their classes are on the same hallway. Harding has now entered the big world of kindergarten and Shelby is in a Head Start preschool class.

As a teacher, I am usually pretty anxious when I have to go back to school at the end of the summer and this year was no exception. In fact, I have been a complete mess because of all the changes the kids were facing this year (H in kindergarten at a school where we don't know anyone and Shelby with new teachers and all new therapists). Somehow, we made it through last week unscathed though, and now that we have met all the teachers, been in the classrooms, and the kids have the first day of school under their belts, I feel much better about the whole situation. 

Harding came home from the first day full of excitement about hunting for the gingerbread boy in the library and making a new friend named Isabella. He proudly demonstrated to us that kindergarteners need to walk on "marshmallow toes" instead of elephant feet. We're hoping that skill will be used at home too!

Shelby's transition is off to a better start than we expected. She has pitched tantrums at the end of music time each day, but is eating and playing in the classroom just fine. She has also really taken to her speech therapist, Sarah, which is good news. I hope she'll warm up to the new PT and OT this week.

Harding at meet-the-teacher with Mrs. McClure. He wanted to stay all day!

Shelby at meet-the-teacher with Ms. Kathy, Ms. Maria, and Ms. Rebekah. She did not handle it as well as Harding, but allowed Kathy to hold her briefly for this picture.

Daddy helping Shelby feel comfortable in her new classroom.

Harding was excited about the dolphin mural and said, "Take my picture swimming with them Mommy".

My big boy on his first day of kindergarten. He was so excited! Trip texted me this picture at drop-off because I was busy teaching my new students on their first day of school.

july instagrams

We went on not one, but two week-long vacations in the month of July (yes I realize that we are incredibly spoiled). I will post about these soon, but in the meantime, here are my latest summer instagram photos:

The Potty Princess

One of my summer goals has been to get Shelby comfortable sitting on the potty. We help her pull her pants and diaper down, and then lift her on to the potty. She has gone from screaming every time we put her on it, to sitting on it and singing and bouncing, to accidentally peeing on the potty, to telling us when she needs to sit on it, to going on it about 50% of the time (both #1 and #2). She has certainly exceeded my expectations for her in the bathroom this summer and I am very proud of her. I am still hesitant to get her out of diapers though...I don't want to push too much or put any kind of pressure on her when it comes to the potty. She gets more than enough pushing from us in other areas of her development. For now, we are going to continue doing what we're doing and see what happens.

Harding's 1st Race

Harding has enthusiastically cheered me on in several races that I've done and had expressed some interest in doing a race of his own. We signed him up for the Bele Chere family fun run and he has been "training" for three weeks by running around our block (0.7 mile). Running with Harding is amusing because he runs his mouth faster than his legs, and I've enjoyed our time training together. He begged MoMo and Bop to come watch him race this morning and warned them that he would wave to them when he saw them, but couldn't stop and talk because it was a race. He also told them to cheer loudly, which they did! 

Pre-race, Harding was excited!

Lined up at the start (H hated all the waiting). Notice that every kid was #1. :)

A good action shot...

Showing our family solidarity....the last bit of the race was uphill and Trip and I had to practically drag him. :)

About to cross the finish line!

Post-race pose with Harding's ribbon.

Harding with his loyal fans! Thanks for the support MoMo, Bop, and Shelby!

Max Patch

The next time we visit Max Patch, it will not be in the middle of summer. It is a beautiful spot with 360 degree views and no shade. There were bees buzzing around, and Trip got stung while rescuing Shelby from one of them during our picnic. We did manage to have a lot of fun hiking on the bald mountain that is so reminiscent of the opening scene in The Sound of Music. Instead of singing "The Hills Are Alive" though, we belted out Shelby requests like Old McDonald.

Our picnic spot

Shelby did a bit of hiking too!

Notice Harding's newest missing tooth? His smile keeps changing and getting cuter!

Harding took this one.