School begins

The first day of school for Bailey came and went. It was nearly as uneventful as any regular day of school last year, which I welcomed with open arms. :) She immediately found her seat, greeted a few of her friends from last year, and began working on her morning work. Her teacher, Mrs. B, is super sweet and super tough, both very good things for our talkative and sometimes attention-deprived (haha) daughter.

Much like any normal day of school last year, we also had homework. Mrs. B wastes no time. And, as much as I would love to complain because it is SO much work, I would never breathe a negative word about it. Bailey really enjoys homework and learning... and she didn't really miss a beat in getting back into our after school routine. I was happy to hear that Bailey had Mrs. B when we found out it was her, because she is supposedly an awesome teacher. I also heard that she might be one of the toughest at our school... and tough really means work. If tough and homework equals Bailey excelling in school, well, I am happy to sit and work with her through homework from the very first day. :) I have a feeling Bailey is going to grow exponentially this year.


In other school news, Bailey is enjoying meeting new friends (of course) and was over the moon excited about her classroom having a new student today, who she has claimed as her "newest friend." I translate that into "Mom, I am going to show this girl how to do everything at our new school and introduce her to every person I know." Having moved from school to school more times that I would want to count, I am so happy to know that my daughter is the little girl who is running to make her feel welcome.


Bailey also is all about the clothes this year. I don't mind that too much, since I love to get her dressed up, but she is a little bit more obsessed than I expected. She doesn't want to wear anything that she has worn before. Fortunately, I convinced her that she really can't do that, otherwise, she's going to run out of clothes soon. I held my breath in fear that she was going to suggest that we just go buy more. Luckily, she laughed sheepishly and said something to the effect of how silly she was being for thinking that way. Shew. A close one for sure. lol.


Six school days in and we are feeling good (aside from a sniffle and cough here and there after the first two days - eek).


One child down...


... and the other to go. Tomorrow will be Jake's Open House at his new school (which he thought I said Haunted House and kind of freaked out a little - haha). We are very eager to see what he thinks. I am sure that he's going to be nervous and I'm quite honestly dreading next week because of it. I'm sure he will do great, but I know that he's going to have that sweet little nervous face when I get ready to leave. He's going to wring his hands and force a smile after he hugs and kisses me about 5 times. Then, I'm going to get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, give him my best forced smile, tell him how much fun he's going to have, and then pray as I walk out the door that he doesn't shed a tear. This will happen for the entire first week, but I'm very hopeful that after that it will go away. Hoping and praying. So, if you are feeling prayerful and want to whisper a quick one for us for next week, I'd really appreciate it!


Pics of Jake's first day, coming soon. :)

Baby or Big Boy... which one?

Shew... now that the additions to my list post is out of the way. :) 


I can get on with my blogging self. 


However, this one is going to be about my list, too. 


Kinda. 


It's actually about one of the items on my list and how I am not really sure I will ever determine that I've accomplished it. I guess I'll know when Jake starts Kindergarten or when he goes to middle school (or Junior High) or high school. I don't know when I'll "know." 


The item I'm referring to is the item that says, "Teach Jake to walk into a room and feel confident with himself (no nail biting)."


Since I have no way of knowing if Jake feels confident in himself at this stage of the game, I have to go on the cues he's giving me. 


So, Saturday would be one of the days that I'm using as an example. Our friends, Dawn and Brandon, invited us to come to their sons' (Jackson and Carson) birthday party. It was a joint party (both boys have December birthdays) and the kids really love Jackson and Carson. I was really excited to get to join in. Unfortunately, not long after getting the invitation, I realized that Bailey had ballet rehearsal for the Nutcracker at the same time (speaking of - if you want to see her in the ballet, come watch on Saturday, December 18 at 7 at Lyric Theater in Lexington). Anyway, Bailey wouldn't be able to go to the party. For half a second, I thought that we'd have to miss the party. But, I was quickly reminded (by myself) that I have taken Bailey to numerous, numerous parties for her friends at preschool and Kindergarten. Jake, on the other hand, has only gone to birthday parties when we've all gone. I quickly shot Brad an e-mail and told him that he was going to have to take Bailey to ballet and I would take Jake to the party. It wasn't fair for him to miss out. 


Now that you have entirely too much detail on this... 


:) 


Saturday was the party. We arrived a few minutes early, caught up with Dawn and checked out the party place. Jake was pretty pumped about seeing his friends, Jackson, Carson, and Joseph, and really excited about the cake and games. Typically, Jake has a hard time in these types of situations. He becomes clingy and shy and really gets nervous when he doesn't know a lot of people. He didn't seem that nervous. He even sat at the table with the kids without a concern or care in the world, ate 4 pieces of pizza (I KNOW!) and made a new friend in Vincent. They had a cookie fight (not over cookies, but ramming their cookies into each other). :) I'm sure that it really helped that he's played with Jackson, Carson, and Joseph so often and they were both there sitting with him. Add to that the fact that he's actually doing really well with preschool and understanding that he really DOES have to follow rules and maybe we can see where this is coming from. 


No nervousness, no nail biting. I really didn't think that much about it. At all. It really hadn't crossed my mind. Until one of Dawn's friends came up and I stuck my hand out to introduce myself. Jake quickly stepped up to her and stuck his hand out and said, "I'm Brad Jacob Ooten." OK. This should not be a big deal, right? Had it been Bailey, I wouldn't have thought a second time about it. Well. Jake typically mumbles his name, only when asked, and then continues to bury his face in my thigh and stands behind me. The fact that he was so forthcoming with this new friend floored me. It surprised me even more when he decided that he'd make friends with Brandon's dad (Jackson's grandfather) and told him all about the prizes he selected at the ticket counter. He is usually insecure. He usually mumbles. He usually would NEVER initiate a conversation with someone he doesn't know. 


I have often worried that his insecurities come from his difficulty in speaking clearly. He's getting so much better that it amazes us sometimes. Sure, he still struggles with some sounds, but for the most part, you can understand most of what he's saying. I have to think that his improvements in speech are helping his confidence. That coupled with preschool and our increasingly active schedules with other adults and children just have to be making the difference. 


One step closer to me not worrying about his insecurities... 


One step closer to feeling like I'm not leaving a helpless baby at preschool... terrified that he can't or won't tell them when he needs something. 


One step closer to marking this off my list. 


OK. I'll probably never stop worrying about him. 
I'll probably never feel like I'm leaving a big kid at school... he IS my baby. 
So, maybe this won't ever come off the list. lol. 


Oh well... I'm working on it. :) That has to count for something.