Rites of Passage

Who knows The Kick?
Some things you do in life are signs of getting older...rites of passage if you will. You know...like riding a bike...ordering off the adult menu for the first time...staying at home by yourself... In my family, there was a certain aunt (who shall remain nameless but I believe she is a reader of this blog) who is very petite in stature. Some might say she's little, some might even call her short, but most definitely you could call her petite. When I was little, it was always a big thing to see if you were taller than Aunt Lisa (remember, we always change names here at ellaandluke.blogspot.com) cause Aunt Lisa is like 4'10", maybe 4'11" on a good day. A really good day.



Recently, I taught Ella a skill that will carry her thru her tween, teen, and adult years. Something that all ladies should know. That's right. That's right. I call it "The Kick."



"The Kick?"



Yes, The Kick. When you go to the bathroom in a public place like a restaurant or whatever, who wants to touch the handle to flush? Certainly, not I. Who knows when the last time was the restroom itself was cleaned let alone who knows how long it's been since the bathroom cleaner thought to take a can of Lysol and spray down those nasty, germy little handles. That's when you take your foot and kick at the handle to get it to flush so you don't have to take your hand and touch whatever it is that we don't want to think about being on the handle.




We were in the restroom the other day and I was getting ready to do The Kick after Ella went potty. She asked me to stand back. I then saw her stand on one foot and fling the other at the flusher. She watched her peeps go down the drain while saying "See ya, Peeps!" Then gave me a high five and yelled "Score!"



That's my baby!

Jeff the Ref! Jeff the Ref!

A couple weeks ago, we all decided to go to a basketball game. Uncle Jeffy is a basketball referree mostly in Columbus but occasionally, he comes to local schools and does his thing. I tried to get an action shot of Uncle Jeffy running but he was so fast all the photos were blurry (for those of you who know him, you know this is a huge fabrication).

The kids had a great time chanting "Jeff the Ref!" or "Jeff-er-eeee." Luke had a good time eating all the great food available to him.

Christmas Play At Our Church

Here's Joseph...just chillin' til those three dudes get here with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh

One of these thespians decided not to perform...he's the resistent looking one on the left.

The happy couple.

See no evil, eat no evil, drink no evil.....or something like that.....

Last weekend, Myles and Ella played Joseph and Mary in our church play. Luke was supposed to be a shepherd but refused. I think he was holding out to get a better contract/more money. There were two performances because our church is linked with another small church in the area. The other church had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party complete with cake and punch after their service which, of course, we stayed for.

The video above shows basically what the kids did the entire time the play was going on because they had no lines. Their job was basically just to sit there. If you can't tell, Myles is trying to hold Ella's hand and she is resisting. She decided to get him back by tickling him.

Good times.

How very Lady and the Tramp of us

You may remember that KiKi made an appearance (or shall I say, "decided to adopt us") last spring. We'll be officially making her a member of our family tonight. Her Christmas present from the kids is a collar. Ella and Luke both picked it out and are crazy excited to give it to her.

Here she is in one of her favorite spots...our bathroom sink.

Christmas Program

The kids did their Christmas program at the pre-school last night. Luke is the one in the middle waving during the song. What a ham.

A year in review

Here are the blogposts I found most interesting all year long. Enjoy! Click on the month to see the featured post. A couple months required more than one.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July part 1

July part 2

August part 1

August part 2

September

October

November

December

Santa and Sculptures and Vomit (Oh, my!)

This part was good. The ice sculptures looked great in our town square.

I didn't know that a Festival experience could be so bad yet somehow it was. For the past three years, our town has held a Christmas festival. You may remember the great fun from this , this, or even this post. This year's billing promised great fun: Free pictures with Santa, a parade, live reindeer, free horse drawn carriage rides, turkey bowling, choirs singing. All of the exciting events from last year and more. The family was stoked.

This year...not so much fun was had. They changed up the parade route (not a big deal but we had staked out the perfect spot for the previous year's route). There was much candy tossed from the parade participants (always a plus--who doesn't like candy tossed at a parade??). The parade started at about 12 or 12:05 and last maybe 15 minutes culminating with the big guy himself making an appearance on a fire truck. Good times, right? Here's where it went horribly wrong.

The program said that they would be doing pictures with Santa starting at 1. Seeing as they finished the parade at about 20 after 12, surely they wouldn't make the kids wait outside in 25 degree cold, right?

Oh, surely they would and surely they did.

There he is!! There he is!!

We can see you in there Santa. Why won't you let us in??

Now I wouldn't have minded a 10-15 minute wait. I can understand that Santa may need to get off the truck, go inside, freshen up, go to the bathroom, get set up, etc. Do you know how not cool it is to let a huge group of kids watch Santa get off the firetruck, go into the bank, and then make them wait 40 minutes in 25 degree weather to see him? NOT COOL AT ALL. You're probably saying to yourself "Why not just leave and go home?" Do you know how hard it is to tell a child that although you have written a letter to Santa and can see him in the window of the bank, you're not staying to see him? We tried to convince the kids a few times to go home because it was too cold and it was too long of a wait. There were many tears shed that day and not just from my kids.

At about 5 after 1, the bank opened their doors. We got in there and as Robin lifted Chase out of his stroller, he projectile vomited all over her and the carpet at the bank. I try not to diss on a free service like having Santa there and getting your picture taken with him because it is a nice thing for the bank to do. Would it have killed them to open up the bank early to get people out of the cold? Call me an idealist but I'm going to go with no.

What about the reindeer and the horse drawn carriage rides, you say? They didn't come until 2 and 4, respectively. The worst part about the entire thing was that our town missed a golden opportunity to drum up some Christmas business for local merchants by making the events in more of a rapid succession to encourage people to stay, shop around, and just have a good time. Last year when I drove through town during the Festival, there were lots of people just walking around, hanging out, and just having a good time. This year I came through in what was supposed to be the middle of the festival and saw maybe 50 people. What were those 50 people doing you ask? They were standing and watching what I'm assuming were their children in their little church choir.

It was a memory. Can't say it was a good one but it was a memory, for sure. What a disapointment.

Paybacks are a mother

Where were my donut holes? I'd like a donut hole. Guys, what happened to "sharing is caring"?

So Robin thought it would be funny after Halloween to load up my kids with big sacks of candy corn. Funny, Rob. Real.Funny.

It was my turn to bring the snack for Monday school. Ella had decided she wanted to take donut holes as the treat. I bought 6 boxes of donut holes because I didn't know how much to buy (who can predict how much a kid will eat?? Not I). I ended up with 2 full boxes of donuts left. I certainly don't want to take all those home. What could I do with all of those?? Hmmm...

I always pick Myles and Ella up from Monday school and take him back to his house. I decided this would be a good opportunity to get back at Robin and use my donuts for evil rather than for good (is there really any other use for them?). We drove to Myles' house. Once we got there I told Myles to get out of the car. I then placed an unopened box of donuts into his Monday school bag. I pulled him aside and told him that he had 2 options. 1.) He could walk into the house, tell his Mom he had donuts to share, then share them with all who would like one. 2.) He could walk into the house, not tell his Mom he had donuts to share, put the box into his play fridge, and partake of the donuts whenever he wanted. I told him it was his choice.

Let's just say he chose the latter.

Glitter-tastic

I just mailed out my Christmas cards today. I learned a very important lesson this year with regards to choosing cards. While glittery cards look pretty, they are a pain in the you-know-what when trying to sign them, insert pictures, etc. They are very glittery and got all over me, the couch, the pen, EVERYTHING! I'm pretty sure the pictures I put in the cards will come out glittery, too.

Note to self: nix the glitter for next year.

Mean Girl

I try to ask Ella about her day at Pre-K on Tuesdays and Fridays so I can feel like I'm keeping up and if she gets in a habit of talking to me now maybe that will carry on into her scary teen years--a girl can dream, right?

A month ago or so, Ella said that there was a girl in her class that pushed her. We'll call her Casey. I asked Ella what happened. She said they were standing in line and the kid behind Casey pushed her and then Casey pushed Ella.

I'm not entirely certain that Casey wasn't just playing around but Ella did not like it at all.

Sometimes I'll try to see how Casey is just to see if she's a bully or if it was just the kids all playing around. Ella just usually shrugs her shoulders and says that she didn't hang around Casey that day so she doesn't know how she is. I asked Ella the other day how Casey was and she said "Mommy, I don't like to be around Casey. She's a mean girl and I don't want to be around her."

Who knew my kid would be so intuitive? Clearly Casey will be getting coal in her stocking this year.

There's no business like show business

If my readers have nothing else to do next Tuesday (12/16), feel free to drop by E and L's very first pre-school Christmas program. Starts at 7 and seating may be limited. It's sure to be a yule log full o' fun.

If my readers have nothing else to do next Sunday (12/21), feel free to drop by our church to watch E and L and Myles in our Christmas play. E will be playing the role of Mary and Myles will be Joseph. Luke will be lucky if he can stand still long enough to be called participant. Ella's baby doll aka Baby Annabelle will be playing the role of Baby Jesus.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, part 2

So I decided (I would say "we" as in Aron and I but he was only minimally on board with this idea) Santa would get E and L a Wii for Christmas. They seem to enjoy it when they play it at MyMy's house (well, they enjoy it when they can wrestle it away from Uncle Jeffy, that is) so why not?

I decided the Tuesday before Thanksgiving that we would buy the Wii. I called 10 bazillion different stores and no one had one. I looked online at 10 bazillion different stores and no one had any in stock. I found one place that had them but I had to buy it as part of a bundle of accessories and games to the point that it was $500.

Um, thanksbutnothanks.

I decided to call my local handy dandy Radio Shack. (This is where you think I'm going to say that they had them but, alas, you would be horribly mistaken, my friend.). However, the Radio Shack guy was kind enough to use whatever powers he has to check online at his competitors to see if they have them. He found a store at a mall that has very little business about 15 minutes away from my house. This was great but I was at work. From work, it's about 60 minutes away. So I called the store and they said they did, indeed, have 3 Wiis in stock but no, they could not hold one for me. My work friends kept trying to convince me that I needed to immediately leave work to go and get one. I resisted. I did end up leaving an hour early to go because I would have to take an alternate route home that takes longer and is known to have bad traffic congestion at the time I leave work.

I got to the store (a Game Stop for those of you who might need it), walked in and said "Hey, I'd like a Wii, please." The sales guy looked at me and said in a very hushed tone "It's in the back I'll get it for you." I said Ok and went on my merry way looking at the games available on the wall. The guy came back out and said in an excited whisper "I have the Wii behind the counter when you are ready." Again I said Ok and kept looking at the games. A different sales person came up beside me and said "Hi, can I help you find any games?" I said No thanks, I'm just trying to think about it. She then said in an equally hushed tone "We have the Wii behind the counter when you are ready." At this point, I felt a little weird. I kept waiting for them to tell me the eagle has landed or something equally as cryptic. Again I said Ok. I finally decided on a game so I went to the counter and said "I'd like this and you also have a Wii for me." The guy closed his eyes and nodded slowly. I tried to make conversation with the sales person and said "Hey these things are hard to find. How many do you have left?" The guy then told me (no I'm not making this up) "I cannot disclose that." I didn't know what to say so I just paid for it. The guy then tells me that he will be double wrapping the bag. I said ok. He then suggested to me that if I'm going to take my Wii out to the car that I put it in the trunk and not my back seat so that the window doesn't get busted out.

Dude, I just wanted a stupid Wii for my kids and ended up feeling like I was a part of a drug deal or something.

Yikers.

Sorry Charlie

Super sorry about the complete lack of blogging lately. We haven't done anything really notable in the last couple weeks, thus, I had a lack of material.

How is this fair?

So my foot has been ouchy lately. Turns out that I got plantar fasciitis and a heel spur from the marathon.

Darn you, Marathon!!

Update

If you're interested in checking on the progress of Aron's coworker's premature baby, Lydia, here is the link. I'll also put it on the side to check her progress.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lydiahermann

Can you believe she's 5??

I found this cute picture of Ella from over the summer. Doesn't she look like a little Nature Girl?

I went to my first parent/teacher conference last night. Aron stayed home with the kids while I went by myself. I must say I was a little nervous about what to expect. I tried to get a picture of Mrs. Lori the pre-school teacher but Aron didn't think it was the best idea (he actually used words like "creepy" and "weird" to describe my wanting to get a pic of her for the blog. To me it's not any different than another Mom wanting to get a picture for a scrapbook or something, right?).

It went pretty well. I expected her to say that Ella was on course academically but was behind socially and is shy.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

Well, I wasn't wrong about the being on course academically but Mrs. Lori set me straight about the shy part. She said that she's relatively quiet in the big group when we drop her off in the morning. She'll play with a few other kids (the usual suspects are Elizabeth and Maci). Once Ella's class is separated and taken into their classroom, Ella is very social and outgoing with the other kids. She is especially outgoing and social with her best buddy who is a boy whom I'll call Jordan Catalano** (I know Tori will understand this reference). Mrs. Lori says that the two of them just sit there and laugh at their own little inside jokes and they both think the other one is hilarious. She says that she's learned that she can't sit them directly beside one another during the academic times of class but other than that they have a great time together. Ella's mentioned him quite a few times at home but be careful asking her about him because she gets kind of embarrassed about it. I think she's got a little crush on Jordan Catalano.

Academically, she's doing great. She finishes her work quickly and accurately. Mrs. Lori tries to have "advanced papers" ready for her to do once she finishes because the other kids are still working. (Jordan Catalano also needs these advanced papers). Mrs. Lori tested all the kids before the conferences and Ella didn't know or couldn't do just a small amount of things. These were things like identifying a pentagon (She might just have a problem with name recall of a pentagon, though, because later on in the test when she was asked to draw a pentagon with no prompts of what it looked like she was able to draw one with no problem) and skipping. Ella was described as very artistic (I could've told you that. She's amazing when she draws) and has advanced scissor skills (I, too, was advanced in scissoring at her age. I could cut like no one's business. Ask me to glue something, though, and it was all over. Extra glue was sloshing around, getting all over stuff). She was the only one in her class able to cut a complicated set of lines on a paper Mrs. Lori showed me. Mrs. Lori is impressed with her ability to remember things when shown only one time. Ella is also asked to help show the kids sign language (learned courtesy of Monday school) to the other kids in class.

My little baby's all grown up!

**As always, names are changed

Belated Halloween Pix

Yes, I know it's almost Thanksgiving and I never got around to posting Halloween pix (bad blogger). Here ya go and quitcher bitchin' bout it.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

I'm ok with punching Uncle Jeffy but how do it do it with these?

Daddy's punching Uncle Jeffy, too?


Seriously, guys, still not understanding how to take these sticks and hit Jeffy. Why can't a boxer can't wear a ballet leotard? I like to think outside the box.
I'm done with this now, Daddy. Someone landed a punch at this exact moment. I'm not sure who it was.

Uncle Jeffy, Aunt Robbie, MyMy, and Chase brought over their Wii to play with us. Our family was novice Wii'ers but had been looking to get in the game for a little while (at least I had... Aron has a Wii at his work so he can do it whenever he needs a "creative break." Can you tell I'm in the wrong profession?).

Part of Ella's difficulty with the game may have been her blatent lack of aggression. We had to teach her how to punch and that she actually wanted to beat up on Jeffy.

Again, I took a video sideways. Sorry. It's still entertaining.

I think Santa may have to bring this for Christmas this year for me. I mean, for the KIDS. That's what I meant, the kids. It makes me think of the year that Santa brought Jeff and I the Atari 5200. I don't really remember asking for one (maybe Jeff did). What I do remember, though, is the fact that Santa was kind enough set it up to our large wood-framed television (you know you all had one. It sat on the floor and was about 5 feet wide and 5 feet deep with a dial to turn the channel. The screen was about 20 inches and the rest of the thing was wood. Awesome) before he went on to the next house. In fact, he was even nice enough to stick around and play a while on the system (clearly, he was entraced by the 5200's superior graphics) to make sure it wasn't a lemon and drink 3/4 of a can of Coke. I remember that the controller's and the box itself were still warm to the touch the next morning from the prior night's use . I remember my Dad being painfully sleepy the next day and I remember Mom being all crabby about the fact that "Santa" really shouldn't have been up so late into the night and that he wouldn't be so tired for Christmas day and could be awake to watch the children enjoy their gifts if he just would've come to bed. It's amazing how she always knew just what Santa needed on his Christmas vacation.

But enough about me

I forgot to tell everyone that we need some prayers/positive thoughts sent a friend's way. Aron's coworker's wife prematurely delivered their baby late last week at just 27 weeks (normal is 40 weeks). They've called her Lydia and she weighs less than 2#. She has a mild hemmorhage on her brain that they're hoping will stop. They'll be half-living at the Riverside NICU for the next several months.

Thoughts, prayers, or whatever you've got are welcome.

Not fair, not fair, not fair

I took this week off work so I could accomplish two things. 1.) I need to have some oral surgery to have a dental implant (click "dental implant" to learn more) put in. I made this appt two months ago and really want to get it started now because it's a multiple step procedure. Do I really want to get a titanium rod shoved into my jaw bone? No, but it's necessary to get my teeth looking normal again. 2.) I wanted to catch up on some things around the house. You know, organize some closets, catch up on laundry, that kind of thing.

As of today, I haven't been able to do anything around the house because I've been running a fever, have a cold, and have a horrible sore throat that make it hurt to swallow anything at all. I'm going to call the doctor's office this morning to see if I'm going to still be able to go through with the surgery tomorrow. My guess is that they will say no.

**Update**
I went to the doctor and I have strep throat so I'm unable to have the surgery tomorrow. If I could say curse words without it hurting like a mother, I would. Alas, I cannot so I will have to resort to the old standby----(*&%@#)(%*&@#$@()$&*@^*(!&!!!

Biggie boy

Whatchoo talkin bout Willis?

Luke went for his 3 year check up last week. He's at the 50% for height (I can't remember the exact measurement) and the 25% for weight (29 1/2#). The pediatrician said he was looking good (quit hitting on my kid, doc), was doing age appropriate or better than age appropriate things (we don't like labels like "genius," doc), and is healthy as a horse. He's got some 4 year old skills mostly related to his verbal reasoning skills and overall speech/language development. His coordination is pretty good for a 3 year old, especially a 3 year old boy (boys tend to lag behind girls in most every way when they are little). He's still having difficulty verbally expressing his emotions (duh) and finding a healthy outlet for his anger (hands are not for hitting, Luke) but he's working on it.

Age 3 (and the month or so prior to age 3) has been difficult for Luke so far. Very often, he turns off his "listening ears" and replaces them with "I'm going to pretend not to hear you and do whatever the heck I want and who do you think you are to stop me" ears. This especially happens in front of other people because he knows we tend to be more lenient on him when other people are around (he's starting to know how to work us without getting in more trouble than he's willing to be in). There has been an increase in time outs for the little guy, lately, and he even got a little hand smack from Aron at his own birthday party (Luke kept trying to put his grubby little paws in his birthday cake after repeatedly being told no). He's also picked up a new hobby--picking at his sister. He loves to push her buttons until she flips out. This has been great (insert sarcasm here). As a result, I wear my crabby face with an increased frequency and feel like my head will pop off and steam will pour out. They don't tell you about these things when you sign up to have a kid. They need to put that in a handy little brochure or something--you know, kind of like what you get when you buy a toaster and such. (I think I need a vacation.)

On the flip side, Luke can also be very sweet. When you ask him what's in his heart, he will tell you "love." He's very snuggly especially when he's sleepy before his nap or at bedtime. When he talks about his Grammie or Stevie or Poppy or Lindy Bear, his little face just lights up and you can tell they mean something very special to him. He loves food with a passion I've never seen before. It's like he just can't help himself when he's around it. I still find food squirreled away in my living room (which is awesome, BTW) and can occasionally find him tucked under the kitchen table with some sort of forbidden snack (lately it's been his Halloween candy). He can be cute when when he's in the tub pretending that he can swim like a dolphin. Or when he's playing around and pinching me with what he calls his "grab nabbers" (his hands).

I think I'm being punished

Yesterday for Ella's birthday, Aron and I got her a My Little Pony remote control motorcycle (I couldn't find the exact item she got but this is pretty close--as always, click on the link to view product). Last night she looked up at me and said "Mommy, I wished for a long time that I would get this and now I have it. I saw it on a commercial. I'm so happy." I never even knew she wanted it! I went out on a limb when I grabbed it at the store thinking that she liked My Little Pony and I thought it was cute. She never, ever asks for anything. Whenever any birthdays or Christmas or whatever gift-giving holidays come around, I'll ask her what she would like and she always says "I like whatever (insert Santa, Easter Bunny, Mommy, whoever) brings me."

Now here's where I went wrong. I asked her if she could think of anything else she liked.

She did have something else that she wanted. She wants a Hasbro Baby Alive Wets 'N Wiggles Doll. She's so excited because you feed it a bottle and it goes peeps in a diaper that you get to change.

Great. One more thing that I have to monitor for peeps. Good times.

Happy 53rd birthday, kids!

Ella decided she wanted to open her presents while wearing her recital costume--who wouldn't want to wear red sequins and such just to hang out?

Football in the foreground...football in the background.

Just kidding! We had a combined birthday party today for Luke and Ella with Aron's family. Ella's half of the cake was purple and Luke's half was blue. Ella helped me make the frosting by adding the food coloring. Mini-Martha in the making!

For those of you interested (Jim), it was a 3 layer vanilla bean cake with blackberry filling and cream cheese frosting.

Ballet dress up

Ballet also had a dress up day last week. Ella continued her reign as princess. Here's a pic of her ballet class. Cuties, huh?

This is mostly for you, Auntie T. Here's a video of Ella's dance.

Lori hour

Ella and Luke love going to story hour. They also had a dress up day last week. This time, Ella chose to be a princess (there was different little girl that was a skunk this time) and Luke reprised his role of Cowboy Luke. Ella's the one in the pink dress and the kleenex in her hand. Luke is right in front of her with the brown vest on by Miss Lori's knee.

See Spiderman in the crowd? That was Ella and Luke's friend, Mason.

The most unhappy skunk this side of the Mississippi

Last Monday, Ella's Monday school had a dress up day. All the kids were to dress up like an animal. After all the kids got there, the teachers let the kids have a parade around the church. It was very cute.

We didn't have an animal costume so I borrowed one from our old buddy, Sam (Thanks, Con!).

I tried really hard but could not get my little skunky-kins to smile for the camera. Ah, the memories.

Marathon recap: The Pre-Race Photos Segment

This girl was born ready to rock and/or roll

On the downward slope, but still pumped and ready

Crazy excited

Before the race, I had everyone give their most excited looks to the camera. Jamie tried to jump up for hers but she was too fast for the camera so hers is more of a coming down picture.

Aw...who has a widdle bitty baby in there?

Connie decided to wear a fanny pack to store her food and other supplies in. This was a good idea until she realized that the fanny pack made her look pregnant. We were talking to a woman before the race who actually thought Connie was pregnant based on her profile. I almost busted a gut trying not to laugh. Seriously, it was so funny that I crack up thinking about it now.

As always, we took a pre-walk photo.

The line to go to the bathroom before the race was a mile long.

No, seriously, it was like a mile long. Check it out. We were in that heinous line when we realized that the race had started.

Good thing we were to start at the back anyway. If you look suuuuuuuper far off in the distance, you can see the start line. This is why it took us 7 minutes to get to the start line.

It was soooooo freezing cold! Columbus had its first frost advisory and we were stuck out in the middle of it! A lot of people wore tons of extra clothes. They then either stripped them off right as it started and then tossed them to their loved ones OR tossed them off onto the street as they got too hot. There were tons of scarves, gloves, hats, sweatshirts, EVERYTHING along the side of the road as we went along. I'm sorry to say I didn't get a good picture of this. A lot of people wore things they considered to be "disposable." You know, an old sweatshirt that you don't care for anymore or mittens that have a hole or two in them. Volunteers for the marathon then go and collect all these things in a "lost and found" truck at the end of the race. The uncollected items are then donated to a local Goodwill.

While the cat's away, the mice will play

Aron went out of town a couple weeks ago and lookee who decided to come inside for a little while...

Is this one tough SOB or what?

MyMy shows his scarier side.

Halloween teaser

I'm burned out on blogging for today. The next time I return I will post about Trick or Treat night.

With turning 3, comes big responsibilities...

Oooooo, yeah I'm excited bout pre-school!
I think the backpack is bigger than him!

Yes, fine, I'll help him. Quit bugging me about it.

Turning 3 means you get to start going to pre-school! Luke was back and forth about how he felt about going to pre-school but was mostly positive. Last Tuesday was his first day. We got there a little bit early knowing that the situation would be new to him and he would have to get used to everything. He cried a little while after we dropped him off (insert breaking heart here). His teacher said that it was like he just turned off the crying switch and turned on the having fun switch. He made a craft (think a cardinal), listened to some books, and had fun in general.

Grammie went and picked them up after school and said she felt both children needed soothing with some McDonald's (sucker!).

He went again on Friday. Again, we tried to get there a little bit early to help with making him feel better. On Fridays, the kids will be staying after pre-school for a couple hours until Aron and I are done with work. The extra couple hours mostly consists of lunch (think a PB & J sans J, a pudding cup, a juice box, and a fruit leather), a little bit of play time, and a nap. I made each kid a special pre-school nap pillow to make them feel special--Ella's is pink (surprise!) with little baby animals on it and Luke's is green with frogs on it. We got there at nap time so we had to try and find the napping room. The room was actually hard to find and we got lost several times but eventually we made it. The nap monitor said that Luke did pretty well. There was just a tiny bit of crying when we left. He flat out refused to eat his lunch, fell asleep at the lunch table, and had a little accident. Well, it wasn't really an "accident" so much as he tried to go peeps at the big boy urinal (the teacher tried to convince him to use the shorter potty but he declined her offer) but had trouble getting winkie up high enough. As a result, there was dribbling down his jeans. The nap monitor said he's a very sweet little guy but very independent. Do you think it's because his favorite thing to say is "Me do it!!"

He's only been there 2 days and they've already got him pegged.