Back to School

So, here it is, the end of our first week back to school We're getting back into our routine, and frankly, much as I love summer and the warm weather, I'm ready for it. The boys are at Ian's daycare this week & loving it- Ian's lead teacher for his little group of 6 is Teacher Gabe. Ian likes him because he's silly and animated (and tosses him in the air.) Cooper was in with the Kinders there this week, as school doesn't start for him until Monday, and that'll be his care when he has a half day every so often. He's thrilled that he shares a big playground space with the "big kids"- the elementary students from the afterschool program.

We had Cooper's kinder assessment on Wednesday, and he marched himself right into Mrs. Clark's room & sat down to work with her- he got a couple of the shapes, letters and numbers right and then said, "can't remember"- which might be interpreted as, "I'm done naming things for you and I want to read books and play with the adults in the room!" Ian was in heaven to play w/all the things in Coop's classroom while I filled out paperwork- he'd go get a car from the bin and march it over to me to show me (in his most enthusiastic voice), "Mama! Car! Car!" Let me just say that I got to study every single one of the 20 cars in the bin quite well.

The big news for kindergarten is that the Special Ed. department in his school was allocated a half-time assistant for Cooper. She'll be there three hours a day and seems awesome! She's a special ed. teacher who just moved up here, so we couldn't ask for anything  better. I had written off Cooper getting any aide time after our last meeting in Spring- I felt like the message from the director of Sp. Ed was that if he needed a one-on-one aide, he should be in a contained classroom. So, great news! (And no fight to get the time!)

I'm getting settled in at my job too. I love, love, love that it is so close to our house (and that the kids eat lunch at daycare.) I load them all up in the bike trailer and drop them and the trailer at Hillcrest Kids, and then literally cross the street and a bridge and am at work. I've even managed to sneak in some runs after school this week!

All and all, a pretty successful transition (ask me again in a week...). The kids have been totally exhausted at night- I've literally been shoving food into them the minute we walk in the house, and am barely avoiding total break down. Fortunately, the food seems to do the trick. Today was our first slow morning, and when Cooper got up, the first thing he said to me was, "Cooper have quiet time?" (Cooper!) So, yes, we had quiet time.

My new commuter vehicle