Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Ellee and Luke's new favorite thing to do is roll down the hill at the park. Luke loved doing it at all of Cole's baseball practices, but hadn't done it since. When we were at the park yesterday he said "Come on Ellee, roll a hill." They then spent the rest of the time rolling down the hill. They didn't want anything to do with the slides or other toys-just that big hill. Cole was a little disappointed because we still have to be careful with his hand so he no rolling for him. He decided to go looking for bugs. On a good note-Cole went to the doctor today and he only has to wear his splint to school so he won't be tempted to play on the monkey bars. He is so excited!

A little freedom!

Cole was able to take a real shower for the first time in a month! He was so excited-he got his cast off last week and is loving his newfound freedom. Last Tuesday the doctor took off Cole's cast and replaced it with a splint. He is still pretty confined in the splint but at least now he can move his elbow and take it off for showers. He was disappointed when the doctor told him he still couldn't go swimming or take baths. He had been associating getting his cast off with going swimming and it was a big let down. He will have the splint for two weeks total-as long as the finger is healing well. It has been one week since the cast came off and we are already seeing lots of improvement. He can now almost straighten the finger which he had surgery on. It is still too soon to tell if the surgery was completely successful because it is too swollen to bend or make a fist-and the doctor doesn't want to strain it that much. In order to hold the tendon in place the doctor had to attach it to a wire, drill a hole through his fingernail into the tip of his finger, and pull the wire through the hole-he then tied a knot in the wire and tendon on the outside of his finger to hold it in place.

Gross-I know but if it works we won't care how he did it. Cole is a little bit freaked out by the fact that his fingernail is gone, but is also very intrigued by it. He loves checking it out and trying to figure out exactly what happened to his finger.

Kindergarten update: Cole loves kindergarten. It has been pretty slow moving and lots of review but he is still enjoying it. We hope it will start to pick up soon. He's also pretty proud of himself because he has no problems reading the books-no words-no letters-in class. They haven't gotten into books yet, so I think we will just start supplementing a little bit more at home. I told him that this time of year is for the teacher to figure out what the kids really know and to review all the letters and things he learned in preschool. Luke has also adjusted to Cole going to school, no more crying. Ellee and Luke go down for naps right after Cole gets dropped off so that helps the time go a little bit faster for them without Cole here. Ellee and Luke have also been coming to volleyball with me whenever possible. They absolutely love it! Thank goodness-last year was a struggle the whole time-they did not like volleyball. Ellee just copies the girls jumping and running around and Luke follows me around with a stop watch around his neck and yells at the girls when I do. I remember when Cole used to do that. It makes me sad that he is in kindergarten and is not my little shadow anymore. Everyone at West has been asking for Cole, it seems he has stolen all their hearts and they don't know what to do without him there. I guess Luke and Ellee have a lot to live up to-but the two little flirts should have everyone wrapped around their finger in no time.

Well-I am back to work full time now. It is so hard for me. I love coaching and teaching but it is so hard leaving the kids at home and watching Damon adjust to the no-sleep thing again. On Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays he gets about 2 hours of undisturbed sleep-and that's only if the twins take a good nap. We tried looking into daycare for just Mondays and Tuesdays, but most of the daycare places by our house are either full time 5 days a week or full time 3 days a week. They won't add any kids who are just part-time because they want to fill it with full time kids. Plus, daycare is expensive-especially when there are two kids to pay for. I feel so bad for Damon-I've been looking for solutions, but don't know what to do. Volleyball season is even harder because I can't come home at 2:30 because there is practice after school. I would love any suggestions!!!

Kindergarten Already?

I can't believe it-Cole started kindergarten today. I will say this-I handled the testing last week and all the preparations for today with ease-but I had such a hard time watching him walk into that classroom!

For the last week he's been counting down for kindergarten. It has been fun watching how excited he's been. I am just struggling with the fact that Cole is already old enough to start kindergarten. Time has gone way too fast!

When we got to his school he ran over to his teacher and said "You're my teacher, right?" She said "Yes, I am. How are you Cole?" He was so thrilled that she remembered his name. Way to go Miss Bell! He then blew us a kiss- said "Bye, guys" and went to play on the kindergarten playground while he waited for class to start. He was oblivious to everything else-he just wanted to be at school.

The minute he walked away Luke got so sad. Luke started sobbing, reaching out his hand and calling "Coley, Coley, Coley!" All the other parents thought it was so cute that he was so sad about Cole going to school. I really was doing fine up until that point-then I got sad-I got watery eyes, but didn't let anything slip out. Little stinkers!

When I picked him up from school he was so distraught. I was so worried that he didn't have a good time. When I asked him what was wrong he said "I want to ride the bus!" We don't live far enough away from the school for a bus ride and when I tried explaining that he told me that we should just buy our own bus. It was all I could do to not laugh at the idea-he really was upset-so with my good mothering skills-I quickly changed the subject. I asked how school was and he said good. He told me that they had a chart to tell how they are feeling and that they got to put their names in the area describing how they felt. He told me that he put his name in the nervous area because he missed Damon and me. But then he said he thinks he might be in the happy area tomorrow because he likes school. Whew! Damon and I were so worried about how he would handle school-but I think all his emotions have been pretty normal. He loved his first day-hopefully he continues to love school.