School Days Are Here Again!

Christian is back in school and lovin' it. This morning, he finally told us about the lunch scheduling and traffic light system. Red no talking, yellow whispering, green talking. Put the person on hot lunch or cold lunch. He is back in before- and after-care, too, and doing well there. Smooth transition, with his little sister eagerly awaiting her turn.

Fear Conquerer

Up to this point Christian has been fearful of quite a few things. He has been hesitant to try things. Once he does he usually finds that he likes them. During certain activities he hits a wall in his confidence and doesn't go beyond that. Lately that wall has been crumbling.

It started a few weeks ago when we went to the park. This year they installed a 20 ft high cable climbing pole. The first time we went to the park this year Christian would climb all around it and would go about half way up and get scared. This past trip to the park, he started out tentative as he had been in the past. While we were watching the other kids, we heard Christian yell "I made it to the top, I conquered my fears". We turned to look and he was at the top of the 20 ft pole by himself. He told us several more times how he conquered his fears and kept climbing to the top to show us. He was so proud of himself and so were his parents.

Next thing he conquered was a climbing structure at the Normal Children's museum. The past few years we've taken them to the museum at least once a year. His sister climbed in the structure when she was 3, but up to this point, Christian had refused to even try. While on his field trip at summer camp, they took him to the museum. Not only did he climb in the structure, but he went to the top and back down several times. He came home and told us how he had conquered another fear and how excited he was about it.

The last fear he conquered was jumping off the diving board into the swimming pool. He visited his Uncle Travis' and Aunt Diane while he was staying with his Grandma Vickie. He barely got in the pool while we were there and wouldn't wear floaties so he could float. Apparently, vacationing without your parents is a fear reducer. He not only used the floaties, he jumped in the deep end off the diving board and did a cannonball. He only quit when he tried to do a dive a did a belly flop! Ouch! I might've quit then too.

Hopefully with all his new found confidence, the next time he tries something new, he'll be able to overcome his fear of it and get the most out of the experience. If nothing else, we'll have the memory of him screaming from the top of a 20 ft. pole "I conquered my fear!".

Back at Home

The kids came back home on Friday. They were excited to see us and ready to get home to, you guessed it, Legos and Tea Parties. They played by themselves and with each other for a long time this weekend, getting in hugs and kisses here and there. They both slept in until about 9 each morning until this morning when they were both up at 6:20 or so.

We made out a Christmas list for Grandma Marie, who is coming up for a visit in a few weeks. They didn't have a lot, but it was a start. We also got Christian ready for his first day of school in a couple of weeks.

Tonight they are going to Annie's for one last night over before school begins. No doubt they will drive us nuts till she gets off work and gets to our house.

On The Move

I didn't realize it, but I guess we've been making a lot of trips this year. At least that's what my brother says about us. Always on some trip, he says. Hopefully, that will come to an end when the kids return from Cape. I think we have pushed them as far as we can with all of the trips and fun times. Christian sure is looking forward to downtime. Tori, not so much, but she'll be fine.

Not Missing Us

Christian and Tori have been at my mom's since last Friday, and they were scheduled to come home tomorrow, but they do not want to. Instead, Tori is going to continue to stay with Frankie, while Christian spends more time with Grandma. He needs some downtime from all of the fun at Frankie's. They are coming home on Eli's birthday instead.

A Long Time Ago...

Last year we introduced Christian to the original Star Wars trilogy. He enjoyed watching them all. This week, we've introduced him to the prequel's on Spike TV. Since the characters aren't quite the same, he's had a difficult time keeping up. In the beginning, he kept asking who 'that Jedi guy with the beard' was and 'which one is Obi-won-Kenobi?". He kinda followed the story and thought it was cool when he saw Darth Vader as a kid. His favorite part of The Phantom Menace was the pod race. He was hopping up and down on the couch with excitement. Especially when Anakin got close to winning. He instantly recognized R2-D2, but had to have C-3PO explained to him because he didn't have his gold shell yet.

Attack of the clones wasn't as exciting for him since its mostly a plot driven love story for the 1st 1/2, but the exciting fight scenes at the end (especially with Yoda), seemed to make it worth while for him. This was of course after he stomped out of the living room after we told him it bed time was near after the movie was over. He refused to finish the movie, but eventually relented the closer it got to Yoda's fight scene.

Tonight Rise of the Sith is on and the part he will enjoy the most is how Anakin becomes Darth Vader! He's asked when will that happen during the first 2 movies, so he can't wait to see that. He'll also enjoy seeing Chewbacca, who he's constantly asked about during the first 2.

The other last 3 that he's already seen are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I don't know if he'll want to watch those again, he might be Star Wars out by tonight.

Fish Tomorrow

After a week of swimming, Christian is going with the rest of us to swim in Annie's pool tomorrow. He was all set for a fun time this morning. Another best day ever. I have tot ell you though that he comes home pooped from all of the activity of the day. He vegges out most of the evening, so we'll see how hyper he is next week when camp is over and he is back to Sharon's.

No Problem

Christian has been at camp all week long, and he loves it. He has come out of his shell and couldn't wait for his dad to get the paperwork done so he could get on with things. He told me that tomorrow is going to be the best day ever because they are going swimming again. He has a lot of best days ever these days. He doesn't know how lucky he is.

Three Days Left

Christian is flying high because before- and after-care is over and school is over on Friday. Aunt Annie and Uncle Dale are watching him before and after school the next three days. He was totally excited to see Annie this morning, and surprisingly, she was awake and ready to go. Tori was sad that she had to got o the sitter's but Annie is trying to find a day when Tori can spend the night with her.

Missing

I saw Christian stash a bunch of papers in his draw last night, so I decided to go through them. Amid the mess I found a sheet with the themes for Teachers Appreciation Week, which we missed. The kids could bring the teacher a gift every day, and we failed to see the sheet until last night. Teachers Appreciation Week was the first of the month. Christian mentioned the whole thing long after the fact. Go figure. I am making a mental note for next year.