I had a post

I had a post almost written and then I got distracted by puking and it got deleted. Sadness and woe.

Ava has been sick with the pukes since late last night. The carpet won't be the same, I have done an extra load of laundry and lots of surfaces have been wiped down. I have to say that her constant whimpering and keening because she wants to eat might be what does me in.  Isla has had a cold for the last week or so and the last two days have been bad with her cough. She seems to have made the turn last night and is improving. Today has been nothing but sleep though. 

Ava has tech week and the play performances next weekend. I honestly can't wait for it to be over. I like our less involved life. Hopefully she is well enough to get to rehersal tomorrow night. 

Isla is doing a lot of growing with all of her sleeping. I am starting to sell off some of her newborn cloth diapers. I have also found a favorite that will last us for a while. I generally avoided the Velcro style but it turns out Justin wanted them. We are starting quite the collection of bottom bumpers. I am also not planning on sticking with any type of microfiber as she gets older. They just stink. 

Look at those chunks in her new diaper.

The time has come

Yes Isla is three weeks old today, but I have other kids and other things on my mind. Lots of other things. I wonder how random this will get? I guess we will see how long my thumb holds out. I am posting from my phone while nursing. It is a talent. 

Anyway, the last few years ava has had some issues with focusing in school. I did too, so did Justin so this isn't a real shock. So far it hasn't really been a problem and she can work around it. Her teacher has already mentioned it this year and we have noticed it getting in the way of homework. It is hard to know what the cause is. Is it her not wanting to do the work? Is it too much noise in the house? Is it an actual problem?  So the first step we are going to take, I think, is a specific diet. I have heard it helps. I have also hurt it is a load of crap. More or less it is cutting out fake stuff. I don't think it can hurt anything to try.  Anybody have any experience with this? 

Thumb is done. More later. It is season premier week and I haven't watched anything because I am totally hooked onScandal on Netflix. What does that say?

I got worms!

Spring has jumped on us. There wasn't much of a winter this year at all. Really, we only had one decent snow. I kept thinking it would just be a mild winter, but instead March has been full of record setting highs. Temperatures in the 80's and all that. I am loving it. It has definitely made me start planning for the summer. In past years we have tried to grow vegetables in pots and in the actual dirt around our patio. Being in a townhouse means space is limited. I have tried to be creative and it hasn't been very successful. Things taste bad because of the dirt. The landscapers mow down everything. The wind tunnel behind our house makes pots fly all over the place, even if they are weighted down. So....

NOTE: I just wrote the entire post and it crashed and this is where it was saved to. You have now missed out on a ton of very exciting and relevent information about our lives. I know. You are sad.

Anyway, so while I was signing Ava and Rhys up for gymnastics at the park district, I notice that the park district was starting up organic community garden plots. We booked one. The kids and I made lists of what we wanted to grow. We mapped it out. We bought seeds. We also researched organic fertilization. That means compost! We are back to the original problem of living in a townhouse. We found another solution. Worm composting! I went on the internet and bought some worms. Who knew you could buy worms on the internet? I didn't. Ava helped me research this and how to set it up. She drew diagrams to help explain it to Justin. She was collecting banana peels to feed the worms. She is so excited about it. Hopefully I can handle the added responsibility of worms. Research worm composting. Eventually my worms will reproduce enough that I will have some to give away. You could be the lucky person who gets them!

flashbacks

I finally went and was the room helper in Ava's class this week. I have really wanted to do this all year, but my theoretical plans for easy childcare for Rhys while I spend an hour in Ava's class crashed and burned so I haven't done it up until this point. I will be doing it way more often now and am just going to have to get creative with Rhys.

Ava earns tickets and gets them taken away based on behavior in school. At the end of the week she can cash in her tickets for prizes. She pretty much never gets prizes. She always, always loses her tickets for talking in class. Last week she kind of laughed and said, "I lost a ticket today and I didn't even have any to lose!" Clearly this ticket thing doesn't have a big impact on her. The prizes that she has gotten often sit in her backpack for weeks so they are clearly not a big motivator for her. Thursday the tide changed. She didn't just lose her tickets. She lost the envelope to put the tickets in! I am not quite clear on how this happened, but she was upset. There were many tears shed over this low blow. She also said she was not allowed to go outside for recess the following day because she got in so much trouble. Again, not quite clear as to what happened to cause her to lose recess because that same day she got a letter sent home from the dean saying she had too many tardies and will get a detention with one more...

So anyway, I go to Ava's class on Friday. I mentioned the envelope situation to her teacher. I wasn't clear on whether or not the envelope was taken away or if she actually just lost it and couldn't find it. The teacher said she might have had it taken away but she would have to check. She did point out that Ava's chair was rubber banded to the table leg. She said that Ava can't seem to stay sitting in the chair. It is always out too far, on the side of the table, she is rocking back in it or she is not actually sitting on it and more like crouching on it. Her teacher says that she has gotten bruises all over legs from walking into her chair all the time. She said that she thinks Ava likes the attention from getting told to sit down.

I didn't even know how to respond. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to tell her that she won't sit because the legs won't stay still and her butt really hurts in those chairs. I know...from personal experience. Ava can sit still. She can sit perfectly still for hours on end if she is watching a movie or something. But she still can't sit in a hard chair. She barely does it at the kitchen table and usually falls off at least once a day. As far as the talking goes...until she is working on something that actually challenges her other thoughts are just going to keep popping into her head that just want to come out. Clearly there is a time and place for talking to friends and she needs to learn that.

By the way, I helped with the science center. (Centers are their other subjects, they work on them in small groups and do six a week.) They were experimenting with colors and what new colors are made by mixing them. They got to use eye droppers with colored water. It felt very scientific. It was also clear to me that not everybody is on the same level as Ava. I sometimes assume that her whole class is pretty much at the same place learning wise.

Me: Red plus blue equals what?
Student: 2.
Me: Nope. Red plus blue.
Student: 2.
Me: Ok, so if you take the color red and mix it with the color blue, what color will you get?
Student: Yellow?

He was really cute in his earnestness.

Christmas begins!

Ava went back to school today after our vacation and her Thanksgiving break. (I will do a post on Disney, hopefully...eventually. It would be pointless without pictures.) I reminded Ava last night that she had to go to school in the morning. Rhys said, "No! I will miss her!" Needless to say, he got used to having full access to Ava and we needed to plan a busy morning.

So we started to prep for Christmas. We had to move the dog cage around, vacuum and mop. I did an initial cleaning with the vacuum and Rhys then took over. He really was into helping. We got the tree out and set it up. He had fun fanning out the branches. I hated the old bitter yuck spray we had put on the tree in years past getting in my mouth. Our pre-lit tree has dead lights. It is now just a cluttery looking dark tree. Ava requested multi-color lights this year, so I had gotten some on this giant wheel looking thing. Rhys focused enough to stand on the other side of the tree and pass the lights back to me. It was actually impressive that at this point in time, he had paid attention for over an hour.

We then got crazy and got the ladder out and hung some lights up outside. Never in my life have I done this. It wasn't that hard at all. They might blow off with the first breeze, but oh well. He even hammered in a nail and I almost dropped a hammer on my head. It was a very efficient project.

After Ava got home, we made some snow man door hanger decorations and I spent the afternoon ignoring pleas to start putting on decorations. We waited for Justin to get home to do that. Ava was so excited to see ornaments that she recognized and remembered. She also liked seeing all the ones she has made. Rhys was bummed that he didn't have any that he had made or gotten from events. He did like playing with all the movable ornaments and singing his own version of Jingle Bells every time one had a bell of sorts on it. I am so looking forward to Christmas this year. I don't think it is going to be fancy or elaborate. I just think both of them are the right age to make it so fun.

Report Card

Ava has gotten her first report card and I had a parent teacher conference to discuss it. Overall she did very well. She got S+'s in just about everything. S stands for Satisfactory. She got a couple E's for Excellent for sight words and music. During the parent teacher conference her teacher described her as "thriving" and does not have any concerns. She says Ava talks too much sometimes, but it is with a girl who is normally painfully shy so she doesn't really want to stop it.

Ava has also had her first laser treatment while attending school. It went really well. The class had a question and answer session with her before hand. Most of the class told Ava they would be praying for her. The cute thing is, they really did! Tonight we were at the Annual Fall Benefit for the school and we had a couple parents from Ava's class at our table. They recognized Ava's name because their son has been praying for her and the laser surgery. Ava also brought home a picture a classmate drew of her. The little girl told Ava that she drew a picture so her family could see who they were praying for.

Deciding on what to do for school was something I agonized over for years. Seriously, years. I could not be happier with the decision we have made. It is the little things that make it so good. The librarian usually ends up being the person who opens our car door for Ava during morning drop off. She always said hello, but after about a week asked me Ava's name. She hasn't forgotten it. Every morning she says hello to Ava, even if she isn't the one opening the door. Ava has stopped being shy with her and says hi back and usually gives her a big smile. I think I am going to have to find out her name sometime soon.

First day of Kindergarten!

Monday was Ava's first day of school. Full disclosure: I have dreaded this day since the day she was born. It was just full of mixed emotions for me. It symbolized a whole lot of what if's in my head. Turns out, when the day came I wasn't nervous. I think a huge part of that was being very comfortable with our choice for school. I wasn't scared or nervous, I was excited. I was super excited. I was Christmas morning excited. I had a hard time sleeping Sunday night. I did have some crazy dream about Ava taking a friend's hand and walking out into deep water, completely ignoring me telling her not to and I was helpless to save her. So I guess I was a little nervous underneath all the excitement.

Justin stayed home in the morning to take her to school too. I made cinnamon rolls, her requested breakfast for the first day of school, and we were off. It is pretty cool that her school does have so much parental involvement. I don't think anybody in 5th grade or below was just dropped off. Everyone's parent walked them in. Justin and Rhys parked in a different place than Ava and I did (Justin was going to work immediately following drop off) and as we were walking up to the school I saw parents taking pictures of their kids at the school sign. I saw very long, emotional hugs. Suddenly...I felt the urge to cry. It was like being at a wedding. Not sure why you are crying, but it is like there is way too much free emotions floating around in the atmosphere or something. We go into the school and show Ava to her seat. She got right down to business coloring a shirt. She was acting a little shy even though one of her friends from preschool purposefully chose to sit right next to her. (She now says that Emma, the preschool friend, has decided that they are best friends for the year.) We gave her kisses good bye and walked out. I still had the crying feeling but I didn't. The PTM (similar to PTA, but it is a Christian school so everything is a Ministry) hosted a boohoo/yahoo breakfast for parents and as we walked in, I was asked to declare myself. Boohoo or yahoo? I was like for the love! don't make me say it out loud! I was a little of both, apparently.

Rhys and I went to the library for story time and crafts. He was so calm on Monday. I don't think he knew what to do with himself and only me. We ran errands afterward and then went back to pick up Ava.

Today on the other hand, Rhys decided to take on this persona.

It involved many time outs, including one for spitting all over his hand and sticking it in my mouth. It was like a really bad wet willy.

Curriculum day and then some.

On a normal day, if I were to get up early to say...work out or make something for breakfast or read in quiet, Rhys would be up, right there with me before I could even leave my room. The last two mornings, I have had to wake both kids up with lots of moaning and groaning from them and it is later than I am usually woken up by Rhys. This whole early morning school thing is going to be quite an adjustment.

This morning we had to be up and ready to leave the house for Curriculum Day. In the higher grade levels, kids actually come and pick up their box of books. They are getting their curriculum for school, gym uniforms, year books, etc. We got our welcome folder with even MORE forms to fill out. It is also a chance to sign up for the volunteer opportunities in the school. Parents for each child have to volunteer 20 hours per child per year. I don't think that is going to be that hard to do, but I can definitely see it getting harder the more kids you have.

We also apparently have to do this walk-a-thon with a required fundraising amount. It is frustrating only in the timing. It is the week befor the fundraising walk for my job. I am guessing we will focus on getting pledges for Ava's school.

Anyway, Ava got to see some preschool teachers from last year. She was looking all cute. She picked out her outfit and was sporting her new hair cut. (I meant to take a picture of her by her classroom but getting Rhys out of there was harder than it should have been and I forgot.) She got to go to her classroom and meet her teachers. She also got to pick out her seat. She didn't put much thought into it. She talked with her teacher a bit and was given a homework assigment for Monday. I also signed up to bring something supplyish within the first week and I have no idea what it was now. I am pretty excited about her starting school. I hope she is as excited as I am.

We then took off to the zoo with friends. Rhys had his first real outing wearing underwear. He is in the don't tell me what to do stage, so everytime I suggested he go to the bathroom he threw a fit, but he was enamoured by the little potties in the children's zoo.

Ava wasn't as interested in posing for pictures as Rhys was.

We then took off to the pediatric dentist.  When Ava started going to the dentist when she was 2, we went to a pediatric dentist that someone had referred us to.  It ended up taking us an hour to get there and back, always with us leaving really early in the morning because of traffic and I didn't think he was all that nice.  After I experienced his "expertice" and realized that there wasn't anything special he could do for Ava's gums, I took Ava to our dentist which was close to our house.  She has been quite happy there for the last 3 visits.  Well, turns out she suddenly has cavities.  They asked if they could do xrays even though she was a little shy of 5 at the time (they don't do xrays on kids younger than 5) because they could see a couple cavities. So...a few xrays later and we are referred to a pediatric dentist.  Our regular dentist implied that this dentist would be able to take care of them all at once.  That is not the case.  He will do her fillings in 4 different sessions (yes, she has that many) and she will be getting a lovely silver cap because one cavity is really deep.  The pediatric dentist was concerned that they all had just appeared, but when he found out she had never had xrays before...well he wasn't thrilled.  He was pretty much of the opinion that she would have had tiny little fillings and no silver cap, if she had been seen by a practice that does xrays on children.  He pretty much said her teeth can't handle any type of sticky sugar.  All of her fillings are in between her teeth, so she has to floss, use a prescription toothpaste and avoid all sticky, sugary things, including things like dried fruit.  Yes, they are just baby teeth.  Baby teeth do serve a purpose.  He isn't doing anything about a little cavity in her front tooth.  He said no need, that tooth will fall out within the next year or so.  Her molars on the other hand, will be in her mouth for the next 7 years.  They hold the place for adult teeth and the adult teeth usually will follow them up to know where to come out.  Since her teeth are already resembling mine, they don't need any extra confusion as to where to come up.

Tomorrow: Michigan Fiber Festival.  I know you are jealous.

no excuses

I haven't written in a long time. It is what it is. Moving on.

Yesterday Rhys discovered the box of Justin's old GI Joe's in the garage. He stayed out in the garage, literally dripping sweat, playing with them. I brought him to rehydrate and cool off. It wasn't that hot in the garage, just kind of stuffy. He tried playing with them in the house but he thinks the garage is better for some reason. He woke up this morning and wanted to hurry up and have breakfast so he could go back to playing.

Justin is getting a new phone through work...the new iphone. I know, woopadeee doo!!!! No really, I was filled with insane jealousy. I am usually not a jealous person. Other people are allowed to have things! It was that he didn't even want an iphone. I did! For 3 years!!! but we had a cell service that doesn't carry them. Then my train of thought was hmmm, how much would it be for us to switch service now that I am the only person on our plan? I am up for an upgrade anyway, contract wise, so now would be a good time. I had looked in the past and for hte family plan, it didn't make sense. Turns out, it was the last day of a promotion and when it arrives today, I will have my own iphone that cost me $9 and a plan that pretty much costs the same as my old one. Maybe a couple dollars more, depending on the corporate discount. I am excited to get it, but I am actually feeling a little guilty that I was motivated by feelings of jealousy. I can also bless someone else with my old phone so yay.

Ava has her golden birthday on Friday. Her birthday is a very big deal this year. It definitely has to do with the fact that in school, her friends talked about birthdays all year. They built it up to be a great time. She has me sucked into the hugeness of it. I am trying to remind myself, it is just a birthday. Though it is a great day, lets not get too crazy.

Our summer will be coming to a slow halt. Ava has a laser treatment on Monday, which pretty much means the last 2 weeks of summer break will be spent inside. I guess since she is only in morning kindergarten, we can still do some summery stuff in the afternoons. I am looking forward to hanging out with just Rhys everyday, for the first time in his whole life. It will definitely be an adjustment for all of us.

more eyes

The morning started out kind of rough, with some heaves and a puke on the bathroom floor. Rhys just wasn't starting the day off well. We had to go to Ava's eye appointment in a couple hours so I called Justin home. He is lucky enough to be able to come work from home when he needs to. I wasn't about to take a potential puker in the car for 45 minutes to an hour long appointment.

Ava actually refused to put on the 3D glasses when we met with the nurse. (Each appointment starts out with the nurse updating her medical history.) I was slightly worried what that would mean for the rest of the appointment, because it is completely dependant on her cooperation. I had nothing to worry about. There is the first doctor (intern? fellow?) who checks everything first. Ava loves her and was actually singing in between tests. Ava sat perfectly still for all of the pressure checks again. Then the regular doctor comes in and re-checks some things. She has 20/20 vision, which I guess is somewhat surprising at her age, better than normal. Her pressures went down to 18 from 22. We were told to keep up with the eye drops. He is actually hoping to keep pressures in the teens for a while, and then ween her off of drops when she is a bit older. He kind of mumbles to himself, so I am not sure what the long term plan with that would be, other than to avoid surgery until she older. I am not sure if we will try to wean off the drops when she is old enough to do surgery if the need comes up. But either way, things are going well. Ava was very excited to tell him that she holds her eye open herself for her drops. She does...most of the time. It is helpful to have her be a part of the whole process and she gets that she has to do it, most of the time.

yeah, real fast

Ok here is some follow ups.

Ava had her individual assessment/interview for Kindergarten. She had no real skills to work on for the summer. She is just supposed to continue to practice her letter writing so she doesn't get rusty. We are just waiting for them to call and schedule the family interview.

I finished Ava's blanket. She loves it, or so she says. I am pretty happy with it. I don't have a picture of it really finished, all flat and blocked after the washing.

I did make a pair of booties. They are kind of ugly. Ava is using them for her dolls. I have learned from them and now feel confident to make booties as gifts.

We have been sick lately. Ava had an ear infection last week, though aside from one night of complaining it was pretty much like she had a cold. Rhys had a flu like thing last week, fever, cough, snot. Everything is gone except for all the snot and a little bit of cough. I think Rhys has had stuff pouring out of his nose for the last month. I am pretty much ready for winter to be over. There were a few warm days that melted everything and let us play outside. It was a tease and just makes the rest of winter harder to deal with. I have never been a winter complainer, but now I am. The kids need a change of scenery.

so close

I am almost done with Ava's blanket. Hopefully in the next two days it will be finished. It will all depend on how much time I actually get to work on it. I am hanging out at home with sick little people. Ava just has a cold and cough but Rhys has a fever. Neither are sick-sick. Just enough to keep us home and keep them in full whining mode.

Ava has her individual assessment for kindergarten tomorrow. She meets with the teacher for about 20 minutes and they just play games to determine her skill levels. It doesn't make a difference as to whether or not she is accepted. They just want to know if there are areas she needs to work on before the fall.

Writing time is up. Rhys has decided it is a good idea to put a giant ball in the little tikes car and sit on it and get Ava to push him around. I don't see this ending well.

school days

A week ago Ava was the special person at school. That means she gets to bring in something for show and tell, bring the snack, and do all the special things that day in class, like be at the front of the line and other very important 4 year old things. She must have been slightly confused about the fact that this honor does not cross over into regular life. All morning she was saying, "but I am the special person!" "Rhys is trying to sit in my chair and I'm the special person." "Don't yell at me! You never yell at the special person!!!!!!!!" "Don't tell me what to do, I'm the special person!!!!"

*******

I am confused as to how this actually happened. I am sure every parent feels this ways, but this morning I am going to be lining up to turn in Ava's application for kindergarten. We have officially decided to send Ava to a local private school. Since until adulthood, I never really knew anyone who went to a private school and always thought our public school provided a good education, I find it still somewhat odd that we have decided to go with private school. Anyway I break it down, I know this is the right decision for our family. The state budget is going nowhere fast and that definitely doesn't mean amazing academics with small class sizes and art, music and foreign languages. I have been loving getting to watch Ava enjoy school. She comes home so happy almost every day. She talks about what they have learned and is excited to learn more. I really did love learning new things in school and I just want to continue to provide an environment for her that makes it fun to learn.

Then I start to think about the fact that she is going to be in kindergarten. She will be gone five mornings a week. I will be getting up, getting her dressed and ready for school five days a week. I will be dropping her off or setting up a car pool five days a week. Then I start to think this is possibly one of the strangest feelings ever. How did I get here? Carpools? Do people really do that? I thought that was just on tv. Seriously, there are going to be class parties, school volunteer hours to complete, fundraisers through out the year, all sorts of stuff. I just had my first child!!!!!!!! How can I already be doing the whole school mom thing? Ava and I are currently reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingles Wilder before bed. Almanzo didn't go to school until he was 9. That makes a lot more sense to me!

what I dread

I have a friend on facebook who has a daughter with a birthmark that matches Ava's and who also has glaucoma. We see some of the same doctors, so we compare notes and share information. We have also talked about our own feelings regarding being the mom's of these awesome little girls. I have only talked to her on the phone a few times and have yet to meet her even though she lives 2 towns over, but I have probably been more honest and open with her regarding my feelings than with anybody else.

Her daughter is also in preschool this year. Ava had her laser treatment on the 30th. My friend's daughter had her laser treatment yesterday. She was feeling fine and went to dance class last night. She wanted to go to school today even though her mom wasn't going to make her. You never know just how bruised up and purple they will be after a treatment until you walk back to recovery. It depends on how wide the laser beam was, how many joules the machine was set for, etc. The other little girl had a treatment in October which didn't leave her very purple so her classmates kind of got eased into it.

They were standing in line ready to go to their classrooms and a couple of her classmates were asking her about her face. Her mom was there with her and they answered how they normally would. "She just had a laser treatment." Very basic stuff since she was talking to 4 year olds. Then the kids in the other class started laughing and pointing and making a big deal about it. Then the little girl started to cry. Then the mom started to cry. The mom was so upset and still crying when she was talking to me on the phone after she got home. She was upset that she cried in front of her daughter and wasn't strong for her, wasn't the example she thought she should be. I didn't have any words of wisdom for her. I just told her I would have cried too.

Snow

Today it snowed again. I thought it was a lovely, nice fluffy snow. I actually shoveled with no gloves on because it was just barely cold enough to snow and not windy at all. Remember when you were a kid and shoveling was fun? It used to be for me. I love things that I can see a clear change in my efforts. Mowing a really long lawn, shoveling clear paths in the snow. Things like that make me happy. Since we live in a townhouse and have an association, we have snow clearing service to the door...so I don't have to shovel. Because it isn't my responsibility or job, it is still fun. I am sure the day we move and lose that service it will no longer be enjoyable at all.

Ava finally got to make her snow angel. I just really don't think about letting her play in the snow all that much. It is a lot of bundling up for her to be outside for 10 minutes. She made it about 40 since it wasn't that cold and I was ready for a mitten change when they got too damp and cold. I don't know what it is about the girl and snow angels, but apparently in her mind, that is the greatest thing you can do in the snow...or in the grass. I think she misses the whole "snow" aspect of it.

Currently reading: Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbien.
Next up: Father of the Rain by Lily King

Eyes

Ava had a pretty early eye appointment this morning.  It actually probably isn't that early for most people, probably closer to midmorning, but for us, it was early, especially since we had to leave 45 minutes before the appointment started to make sure we got there on time.  So both kids were dressed and mostly groomed.  Rhys' hair typically has no hope.  It always looks like he just woke up so I just let it go.  I get it wet, he puts on a hat and it all ends the same.  I was neither...barely dressed all the way as it turns out, since I found out my zipper had been down the whole time when we got home.  I am on a roll!

Anyway, for once there was no wait.  We were in and out of the rooms like nobody's business which is nice when it turns out to be an hour and a half long appointment.  Rhys was a little out of hand, so Ava sat up in the exam chair all by herself.  I will pretty much let her do this all the time from now on because she did amazing.  There was no silly baby talk or pretending to be shy.  She called out the pictures on the wall with enthusiasm, she held still, she cooperated with three different sets of drops (though she did wipe the yellow dye ones on the sleeve of her white sweater).  She even let them do pressure checks with the tonal pen

and the Goldmann applanation tonometer

The doctor decided she did so well that he wanted to get a picture of her optic nerve. So We got to do that test too, which is look into a little lens with a tiny green light in it and stare straight ahead and hold still while the computer takes a bunch of pictures of the back of her eye. She managed to do this too. The eye doctor said she was probably the first 4 year old he has ever seen that has been able to actually get a picture.

Anyway, the end result of the appointment was her pressures were up a tiny bit in her left eye, with a slightly more noticeable cupping of the optic nerve in the left eye and some slight difference in the nerve based on the fancy picture. Her left eye has always been the "good eye". I vaguely remember when we had our surgery consult at Children's the doctor wanted to do surgery on the left eye first. We were confused as to why she wanted to do the good eye, but I guess it does make sense now. We are adding a drop of xalatan to the left eye at night, instead of just doing the right eye.

I knew it

During preschool orientation, the teachers did a little skit, to show parents the rules of preschool. They kindly mocked common arguments that take place to get out the door, mistakes parents make, like being late to pick up their children, etc. One of them was forgetting to send things to school. I was thinking to myself, "That will never be me. I have this whole involved parent thing down." I already had every school day, day off, special event put in the calendar. I signed up to be a room helper and had it planned out in my head what I could do with Rhys on those days. I was ready. And then Monday happened. I go to pick up Ava and the teacher pops her head in and instead of a fun little fact of the day I heard, "Ava was the Special Person today, but don't worry, we had back up snacks. Do you need a calendar?"

I am a horrible mother. On Special Person day, Ava gets to bring in a snack of her choice, something for show and tell, and lead the class in every line or special thing they do. The thing that made me bitter was the whole "do you need a calendar?" comment. I have the stinkin calendar right on the fridge. I know everyday what the theme will be. I know if she needs to wear a certain color or bring in an item. The schedule for Special Person is on the back!!!!!! I didn't flip it. I knew Ava was the special person one of the days, I just really thought it was next week. I even thought about it before we left the house. We had been discussing what she would bring in (her picture book from San Diego) and what her snack will be (cheese sticks). I apologized profusely to Ava. She is told me over and over again that it is fine. Then she will say, "Remember, when you forgot I was the Special Person?"

I knew this day would come. Soon I will show up to school in my bathrobe and slippers. Since this is often how I spend the morning, it is a distinct possibility.

snippets

I am planning this whole advent craft thing for Ava. So far it is slow going because it is December 1st and I haven't gotten around to wrapping up all the individual projects. I have collected most of the supplies though. Maybe her advent will start on Monday. She doesn't really know that it is supposed to be 25 days right?

Ava has planned a vacation to Disney. She clearly doesn't get the concept that she has to pay for this vacation. She decided it would be for Justin's birthday next year. Turns out she will have a full week off of school for Thanksgiving so we could try to make the trip Saturday through Wednesday and still be back for Thanksgiving. She managed to keep this a secret from Justin for about 3 weeks. Which is good for her because she tends to blurt things out when she gets really excited. She talks about the trip just about every day so we are definitely going to try to make this happen. All spare change is going in "Ava's family vacation" jar.

The school year is just about halfway over and that is insane to me. I feel like she just got started. It is definitely going by fast and we are in a routine. I can now see how moms look forward to school starting up again after breaks, just to get back to the normal routine. Ava can now write almost all of her letters and is figuring out the sounds. She isn't reading yet, but she is definitely recognizing some words.

I finished one slipper. I am on to slipper number 2. It isn't the matching slipper to the first one. It is for Ava instead. I like to delay my sense of accomplishment apparently. I really just wanted to have to finish at least 2 pairs. And I didn't have enough yarn to make the full 2nd adult size one, so I wanted to be able to finish another slipper before I had to buy more.

Quotes of September of 2010 and some older ones....

July 22nd: Me: Is this what you are wearing today?  Ava: Yeah! I love flowers and I love candy.

Aug 4th: Ava: humph! I'm not going to talk to you. Me: Fine, that also means no whining at me. Ava: Fine! I'm whining at myself!

Aug 8th: Ava: uhhh mommy, the poopie looks like there is corn in it.

Aug. 30th Ava: Maybe we could go to Popeye's and get that chicken that Phineas and Ferb were eating.

Sept. 8th (first day of preschool, in the pick up line to get Ava, everytime we would move a little bit forward) Rhys: Here come!!!!!!  I see Awa!  Here come!!!!!!

Sept. 16th: Ava: I have a white spot on my nose.  Me: Ok.  Do you not like the white spot?  Ava: Well, white spots and black spots are ok for cows, but I don't know if I like the white spot on my nose.

Sept. 24th: Ava: I want to learn how to knit.  Then we can pick out pretty yarn together and drink hot chocolate and sit by the fire together. 

Sept. 27th: Rhys: Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma FACE!  (this was his version of Poker Face by Lady Gaga)

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I got this fancy new phone...not really fancy exactly but it is new. I have regular internet access on it, so I can look at a normal webpage. Which means I rarely got onto a normal computer anymore, which means...all my posts sit festering in my head instead of getting typed out.

We have started a new phase! Preschool. So far Ava loves it. She says sometimes people don't share the play kitchen even though she does. I am not quite sure she has the entire concept of sharing down. She says she has made friends but so far doesn't remember any of their names. I think she got tired of me counting down the days with her until the day she started so when it came time to leave for school and I wanted to take a picture, she wasn't having it.

On day number 2 of school, she started making excited little giggle noises when we pulled into the parking lot. I think that means she liked it.

Ava also started dance class.

She has been asking for a while to take dance, even though I had her in swimming lessons. I knew it was the beginning of the classes and even though I only wanted her in one activity at a time (she is currently still playing soccer once a week) I would have to start in dance classes now if she wanted to take them at all this year. I decided not to fight about swimming lesson for the time being, maybe we will take them in the summer when the pool is more enticing. She will learn to swim eventually. So we started ballet and tap. It is a combined class. They do about 10 minutes of stretching and warming up, 25 minutes of ballet, and then 10 minutes of tap. The teacher opens the blinds for the last few minutes of class so we can see what they are doing. Ava is in the very beginner class with two other little girls. She is the the oldest one by about 6 months. So far all I have seen them do is practice walking across the room on the front taps and then jumping with both feet. Ava can manage both of those.