Adopting Ahren (& PBJ, too!)

I am begining to like my haircut. It was just such a shock! It's super easy and sporty but it tends to stick up all over if I don't paste it to my head. I bought some new products to play with. Might as well have some fun with it!

Yesterday was a huge success at school for Levi. If you remember back to the end of summer, we tried him out in a daycare/school 2 days a week. He had gone to a pre-school the year before and done well, but becasue of the hours it was difficult to get him back and forth. This new daycare/school had longer hours so I could drop him off in the morning and pick him up later in the afternoon. Well, it was the end-of-summer, last-hurrah party time at the school and they had all kinds of extra special events scheduled. They were also switching around teachers and staff, so in 2 weeks he had 3 different teachers. At times, one teacher would have 2 classes with a total of 25 kids and it would be loud and crazy. He does not do well with loud and crazy, he tends to get very timid in big social situations. We had also recently moved and I am sure that added to his anxiety level. In those 2 weeks he began to have nightmares, wet the bed, bite his fingernails and have major meltdowns when it was time to go to school. Although the school director advised me to make him tough it out, I saw a kid getting way too stressed out over something that was not necessary, so I pulled him out.
But, the little goober still needs some structure and socialization to get him ready for school. It was up to me to find a solution. Our friend's daughter goes to a tiny little school located near our house that seemed to fit the bill. Plus, her grandmother could run him back and forth. Only problem is that the school is super hard to get into. Openings are rare. With only 12 4-year olds in the whole school, you can imagine those spots are hard to come by. Then, over the winter break, one child moved away. Woohoo! We got our chance. I talked to his teacher and the director about his bad expereince in the fall and they promised to help him adjust and not repeat that type of situation. he was so excited to go, but apprehensive too. We got there early, introduced him to the teacher, showed him around, and he happily said good-bye to me. I picked him up at the end of the class and his teacher said he did great, was a little quiet, but made some friends and had fun. He was grinning ear-to-ear. He learned the letter M, which was already one he knew and could spell some words with. Did you know that 'muffin' begins with M? He does now! I had tears in my eyes as we drove away.

It's a good thing he will have school 2 days a week. It's good for him but even better for Nanny. Yesterday afternoon she called me in a panic becasue Mina had locked herself in the bedroom and Nanny couldn't get the door unlocked. She had been in there for about 15 minutes when she called and I was able to talk her thru unlocking it. Mina was totally undisturbed by the whole thing. Levi kept yelling thru the door telling Mina to unlock it, and Mina would say 'No'. Baby Holly was crying, too. Poor Nanny, she had a really rough day. Mina, that little minx!